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THE 


MOON  HOAX?; 

OR,  i 

A  DISCOYEKT  THAT  THE  I 

HAS     A     VAST     POPULATION     OP 

HUMAN  BEINGS. 

BY 

EICHAED    ADAMS    LOCKE. 

inustral£&  initfj  a  Tkhs  of  th  JlXoon, 
AS    SEEiX    BY    LORD    ROSSE'S    TELESCOPE. 


"The  clouds  still  rested  on  one  lialf  of  it,  insomuoli  that  I  could  discover  nothing  in  it ;  but  the  otlier  appeared  to  me  a  | 
vast  ocean  planted  with  innumerable  islands,  that  were  covered  with  fruits  and  flowers,  and  interwoven  witli  a  thousand  j 
little  shininir  seas  that  ran  among  them.  I  could  see  persons  dressed  in  glorious  habits  with  garlands  upon  their  heads,  S 
passing  among  the  trees,  lying  down  by  the' sides  of  fountains,  or  resting  on  beds  of  flowers  ;  and  could  hear  a  confused 
harmony  of  singing  birds,  falling  waters,  human  voices,  and  musical  instruments.  Gladness  grew  in  me  upon  the  discovery  j 
of  so  delightful  a  scene.  I  wished  for  the  wings  of  an  eagle,  that  I  might  fly  away  to  those  happy  seats  ;  but  the  genius  ( 
told  me  there  was  no  passage  to  them  except  through  the  gates  of  death  that  I  saw  opening  every  moment  \ipon  tlie  bridge."  l 

ADDISON.  i 


i 


NEW  YORK: 
WILLIAM     GO  WANS. 

1859. 


I 


THE 


MOON  HOAX; 

I  OR, 

I  A  DISCOVERT  THAT  THE 

Moojsr 

I       HAS    A     VAST     POPULATION    OF 

HUMAN  BEINGS. 

I  BY 

I  EICHAED    ADAMS    LOCKE. 

illustralflj  bitf)  a  Tkia  jof  tit  iEooit, 
AS    SEEN    BY    LORD    ROSSE'S    TELESCOPE. 


"The  clouds  still  rested  on  one  half  of  it,  insomuch  that  I  could  discover  nothing  in  it  j  but  the  other  appeared  to  n 
!  Ta8t  ocean  planted  with  innumerable  islands,  that  were  covered  with  fruits  and  flowers,  and  interwoven  with  a  thousand  ! 
j  little  shining'  seas  that  ran  amonf;  them.  I  could  see  persons  dressed  in  glorious  habits  with  garlands  upon  their  heads, 
passing  among  the  trees,  lying  down  by  the  sides  of  fountains,  or  resting  on  beds  of  flowers  ;  and  could  hear  a  confused  \ 
harmony  of  singing  birds,  falling  waters,  human  voices,  and  musical  instruments.  Gladness  grew  in  me  upon  the  discovery 
!  of  so  delightful  a  scene.  I  wislied  for  the  wings  of  an  eagle,  that  I  might  fly  away  to  those  happy  seats  ;  but  the  genius 
(  told  me  there  was  no  passage  to  them  except  through  the  gates  of  death  that  I  saw  opening  every  moment  upon  the  bridge." 

ADDISON. 


NEW  YORK: 
"WILLIAM     GOWANS, 

1859. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 

WILLIAM  GOWANS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York. 


i 


^^  ^  ^^^ 


PS 


ADVERflSEIENT. 


It  appears  to  be  as  natural  for  the  liiiman  mind  to  be  craving 
after  the  wonderful,  the  mysterious,  the  marvellous,  and  the 
new  discoveries,  as  it  is  for  the  physical  appetite  to  desire  food, 
drink,  and  sleep,  and  thereby  as  it  were  constantly  attempting 
to  lift  up  the  veil  that  hides  incomprehensibilities  from  our 
vision. 

This  interposition  was,  no  doubt,  wisely  ordained,  for  the 
gazing  upon  such  mysteries  might  strike  us  blind,  and  rob  us 
of  the  little  stock  of  happiness  allotted  to  us  while  probationers 
here.  May  this  longing  not  be  the  germ  of  the  proof  of  our 
immortality  ? 

The  history  of  the  human  race  is  not  only  filled  with  instan- 
ces of  this  kind  of  craving,  but  it  is  universal,  from  the  loftiest 
minds  as  approach  nearest  the  deity,  such  as  K"ewton,  La  Place, 
and  Mrs.  Somerville,  down  to  the  most  untutored  savage  that 
roams  the  forest  wilds.  Hence  the  key  to  the  popularity  of 
these  charming  productions  which  facinate  our  youth  and  con- 
tinue to  dehght  our  manhood  by  letting  us  into  the  supposed 
mysteries  of  an  enchanting  fairy  land,  with  a  grace  of  narrative 
that  quite  takes  us  captive,  while  our  curiosity  and  wonder  is 
raised  to  the  highest  pitch  in  watching  the  developements 
unfolded  in  the  narratives  of  these  authors,  and  quite  impatient 
till  we  learn  the  result  of  the  plot,  or  discovery. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

I  allude  to  such  productions  as  the  Arabian  ISTights,  Sir 
Thomas  More's  Utopia,  Bishop  Berkeley's  Adventures  of 
Signior  Gaudentio  Di  Lucca,  Swift's  Gulliver's  Travels,  De 
Foe's  Robinson  Crusoe,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  Lord 
Erskine's  Armata,  besides  numerous  others  of  a  similar  cha- 
racter but  of  a  less  celebrated  reputation. 

Among  this  class  of  extraordinary  fictitious  narratives  and 
supposed  discovery,  may  be  placed  the  renowned  Moon  Hoax, 
by  Richard  Adams  Locke.  When  it  first  made  its  appearance 
from  day  to  day  in  one  of  the  morning  papers,  the  interest  in 
the  discovery  was  intense,  so  much  so  that  the  circulation  of 
the  paper  augmented  five  fold,  and  in  fact,  was  the  means  of 
giving  the  journal  a  permanent  footing  as  a  daily  newspaper. 
Kor  did  this  multiplied  circulation  of  the  paper  satisfy  the 
public  appetite.  The  proprietors  of  the  journal  had  an  edition 
of  60,000  published  in  pamphlet  form,  which  were  sold  oif  in 
less  than  one  month  ;  and  of  late  this  pamphlet  edition  has 
become  so  scarce  that  a  single  copy  was  lately  sold  at  the  sale 
of  Mr.  Haswell's  Library  for  $3.75. 

The  book  is  still  in  demand.  As  an  instance  of  this  the  fol- 
lowing will  give  some  idea  at  what  pains  and  cost  some  will  go 
to  procure  it.  I  lately  had  a  letter  from  a  Gentleman  residing 
in  Wisconsin,  making  inquiry  if  I  had  such  a  book,  he  further 
informed  me  that  his  attention  had  been  called  to  my  book 
establishment  in  consequence  of  having  sent  to  the  Sunday 
Times^  published  in  this  city,  the  following  query,  "  Can  you 
inform  me  if  such  a  book  can  be  procured,  and  if  so  where,  as 
'  The  celebrated  Moon  Hoax?'  "  The  answer  was  that  if  it  could 
be  procured  at  all,  it  would  be  at  85  Centre  Street,  ITew  York. 
By  this  circuitous  method,  this  dilligent  far- west  bookcollector 
procured  his  copy  of  the  "  Moon  Hoax"  to  his  great  satisfaction. 

Angu8t  1,1859.         .  PUBLISHER. 


THE  MOON, 


AS   SEEN   BY 


LORD     ROSSE'S     TELESCOPE. 


1856. 


GREAT 

ASTRONOMICAL    DISCOVERIES 


LATELT    MADE 


BY    SIK    JOHiq-   HEKSCHEL,    L.L.,    D.F.E.S.,   &c.; 

AT   THE 

CAPE    OF    GOOD    HOPE. 


FIRST  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  NEW  TORK  SUN  IN  AUGUST  AND  SEFTEMBER,   1835,  FROM  THE 
SUPPLEMENT  TO  THE  EDINBURGH  JOURNAL  OF  SCIENCES 


lisr  this  unusual  addition  to  onr  Journal,  we  have  the  happi- 
ness of  making  known  to  the  British  public,  and  thence  to  the 
whole  civilized  worid,  recent  discoveries  in  Astronomy  which 
will  build  an  imperishable  monument  to  the  age  in  which  we 
live,  and  confer  upon  the  present  generation  of  the  human  race 
a  proud  distinction  through  all  future  time.  It  has  been  poeti- 
cally said,  that  the  stars  of  heaven  are  the  hereditary  regalia  of 
man,  as  the  intellectual  sovereign  of  the  animal  creation.  He 
may  now  fold  the  Zodiack  around  him  with  a  loftier  conscious- 
ness of  his  mental  supremacy. 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  any  great  Astronomicah  dis- 
covery without  feelings  closely  allied  to  a  sensation  of  awe,  and 
nearly  akin  to  those  with  which  a  departed  spirit  may  be  sup- 
posed to  discover  the  realities  of  a  future  state.  Bound  by  the 
irrevocable  laws  of  nature  to  the  globe  on  which  we  live,  crea- 
tures "  close  shut  up  in  infinite  expanse,"  it  seems  like  acquir- 
ing a  fearful  supernatural  power  when  any  remote  mysterious 
works  of  the  Creator  yield  tribute  to  our  curiosity.     It  seems 


<JREAT  liUJfAE 


almost  a  presumptuous  usurpation  of  powers  denied  us  by  the 
divine  will,  when  man,  in  the  pride  and  confidence  of  his  skill, 
steps  forth,  far  beyond  the  apparently  natural  boundary  of  his 
privileges,  and  demands  the  secrets  and  familiar  fellowship  of 
other  worlds.  We  are  assured  that  when  the  immortal  philo- 
sopher to  whom  mankind  is  indebted  for  the  thrilling  wonders 
now  first  made  known,  had  at  length  adjusted  his  new  and  stu- 
pendous apparatus  with  a  certainty  of  success,  he  solemnly 
paused  several  hours  before  he  commenced  his  observations, 
that  he  might  prepare  his  own  mind  for  discoveries  which  he 
knew  would  fill  the  minds  of  myriads  of  his  fellow-men  with 
astonishment,  and  secure  his  name  a  bright,  if  not  transcendant 
conjunction  with  that  of  his  venerable  father  to  all  posterity. 
And  well  might  he  pause  !  From  the  hour  the  first  human 
pair  opened  their  eyes  to  the  glories  of  the  blue  firmament 
above  them,,  there  has  been  no  accession  to  human  knowledge 
at  all  comparable  in  sublime  interest  to  that  which  he  has  been 
the  honored  agent  in  supplying;  and  we  are  taught  to  believe 
that,  when  a  work,  already  preparing  for  the  press,  in  which 
his  discoveries  are  embodied  in  detail,  shall  be  laid  before  the 
public,  they  will  be  found  of  incomparable  importance  to  some 
of  the  grandest  operations  of  civilized  life.  Well  might  he 
pause !  He  was  about  to  become  the  sole  depository  of  won- 
drous secrets  which  had  been  hid  from  the  eyes  of  all  men  that 
had  lived  since  the  birth  of  time.  He  was  about  to  crown 
himself  with  a  diadem  of  knowledge  which  would  give  him  a 
conscious  pre-eminence  above  every  individual  of  his  species 
who  then  lived,  or  who  had  lived  in  the  generations  that  are 
passed  away.  He  paused  ere  he  broke  the  seal  of  the  casket 
which  contained  it. 

To  render  our  enthusiasm  intelligible,  we  will  state  at  once, 
that  by  means  of  a  telescope  of  vast  dimensions  and  an  entirely 
new  principle,  the  younger  Herschel,  at  his  observatory  in 
the  Southern  Hemisphere,  has  already  made  the  most  extra- 
ordinary discoveries  in  every  planet  of  our  solar  system ;  has 
discovered  planets  in  other  solar  system,s ;  has  obtained  a  dis- 
tinct view  of  objects  in  the  moon,  fully  equal  to  that  which  the 
unaided  eye  commands  of  terrestrial  objects  at  the  distance  of 

OS! 


ASTEONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES, 

a  hundred  yards  ;  has  affirmatively  settled  the  question  whether 
this  satellite  be  inhabited,  and  by  what  order  of  beings  ;  has 
firmly  established  a  new  theory  of  cometary  phenomena ;  and 
has  solved  or  corrected  nearly  every  leading  problem  of  mathe- 
matical astronomy. 

For  our  early  and  almost  exclusive  information  concerning 
these  facts,  we  are  indebted  to  the  devoted  friendship  of  Dr. 
Andrew  Grant,  the  pupil  of  the  elder,  and  for  several  years 
past  the  inseperable  coadjutor  of  the  younger  Herschel.  The 
amanuensis  of  the  latter  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the 
indefatigable  superintendent  of  his  telescope  during  the  whole 
period  of  its  construction  and  operation,  Dr.  Grant  has  been 
enabled  to  supply  us  with  intelligence  equal,  in  general  interest 
at  least,  to  that  which  Dr.  Herschel  himself  has  transmitted  to 
the  Royal  Society.  Indeed  our  correspondent  assures  us  that 
the  voluminous  documents  now  before  a  committee  of  that  in- 
stitution contain  little  more  than  details  and  mathematical 
illustrations  of  the  facts  communicated  to  us  in  his  own  ample 
correspondence.  For  permission  to  indulge  his  friendship  in 
communicating  this  invaluable  information  to  us,  Dr.  Grant 
and  ourselves  are  indebted  to  the  magnanimity  of  Dr.  Herschel, 
who,  far  above  all  mercenary  considerations,  has  thus  signally 
honored  and  rewarded  his  fellow-laborer  in  the  field  of  science. 
The  engravings  of  lunar  animals  and  other  objects,  and  of  the 
phases  of  the  several  planets,  are  accurate  copies  of  drawings 
taken  in  the  observatory  by  Herbert  Home,  Esq.,  who  accom- 
panied the  last  powerful  series  of  reflectors  from  London  to  the 
Cape,  and  superintended  their  erection ;  and  he  has  thus  re- 
corded the  proofs  of  their  triumphant  success.  The  engravings 
of  the  belts  of  Jupiter  is  a  reduced  copy  of  an  imperial  folio 
drawing  by  Dr.  Herschel  himself,  and  contains  the  results  of 
his  latest  observation  of  that  planet.  The  segment  of  the  inner 
ring  of  Saturn  is  from  a  large  drawing  by  Dr.  Grant. 

We  first  avail  ourselves  of  the  documents  which  contain  a 
description  and  history  of  the  instrument  by  which  these  stu- 
pendous discoveries  have  been  made.  A  knowledge  of  the 
one  is  essential  to  the  credibility  of  the  other. 


10  GREAT    LUNAR 


THE  YOUKGER  HERSCHEL'S  TELESCOPE. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  great  reflecting  telescope  of  the  late 
elder  Herschel,  with  an  object-glass  four  feet  in  diameter,  and  a 
tube  forty  feet  in  length,  possesses  a  magnifying  power  of  more 
than  six  thousand  times.  But  a  small  portion  of  this  power  was 
ever  advantageously  applied  to  the  nearer  astronomical  objects ; 
for  the  deficiency  of  light  from  objects  so  highly  magnified,  ren- 
dered them  less  distinct  than  when  viewed  with  a  power  of  a 
third  or  fourth  of  this  extent.  Accordingly  the  powers  which 
he  generally  applied  when  observing  the  moon  or  planets,  and 
with  which  he  made  his  most  interesting  discoveries,  ranged 
from  220,  460,  ^50,  and  900  times  \  although,  when  inspecting 
the  double  and  treble  fixed  stars,  and  the  more  distant  nebulae, 
he  frequently  applied  the  full  capacity  of  his  instrument.  The 
law  of  optics,  that  an  object  becomes  dim  in  proportion  as  it  is 
magnified,  seemed,  from  its  exemplification  in  this  powerful 
telescope,  to  form  an  insuperable  boundary  to  further  disco- 
veries in  our  solar  system.  Several  years,  however,  prior  to  the 
death  of  this  venerable  astronomer,  he  conceived  it  practicable 
to  construct  an  improved  series  of  parabolic  and  spherical  reflec- 
tors, which,  by  uniting  all  the  meritorious  points  in  the  Grego- 
rian and  Kewtonian  instruments,  with  the  highly  interesting 
achromatic  discovery  of  Dolland,  would,  to  a  great  degree, 
remove  the  formidable  obstruction.  His  plan  evinced  the  most 
profound  research  in  optical  science,  and  the  most  dexterous 
ingenuity  in  mechanical  contrivance  ;  but  accumulating  infir- 
mities, and  eventually  death,  prevented  its  experimental  appli- 
cation. His  son,  the  present  Sir  John  Herschel,  who  had  been 
nursed  and  cradled  in  the  observatory,  and  a  practical  astrono- 
mer from  his  boyhood,  was  so  fully  convinced  of  the  value  of 
the  theory,  that  he  determined  upon  testing  it,  at  whatever 
cost.  Within  two  years  of  his  father's  death  he  completed  his 
new  apparatus,  and  adapted  it  to  the  old  telescope  with  nearly 
perfect  success.  He  found  that  the  magnifying  power  of  6,000 
times,  when  applied  to  the  moon,  which  was  the  severest 
criterion  that  could  be   selected,  produced,  under  these  new 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  11 

reflectors,  a  focal  object  of  exquisite  distinctness,  free  from 
every  achromatic  obscurity,  and  containing  the  highest  degree 
of  light  which  the  great  speculum  could  collect  from  that 
luminary. 

The  enlargement  of  the  angle  of  vision  which  was  thus 
acquired,  is  ascertained  by  dividing  the  moon's  distance  from 
the  observatory  by  the  magnifying  power  of  the  instrument ; 
and  the  former  being  240,000  miles,  and  the  latter  6,000  times, 
leaves  a  quotient  of  40  miles  as  the  apparent  distance  of  that 
planet  from  the  eye  of  the  observer.  'Now  it  is  well  known 
that  no  terrestrial  objeets  can  be  seen  at  a  greater  distance 
than  this,  with  the  naked  eye,  even  from  the  most  favorable 
elevations.  '  The  rotundity  of  the  earth  prevents  a  more  distant 
view  than  this  with  the  most  acute  natural  vision,  and  from  the 
highest  eminences  ;  and,  generally,  objects  seen  at  this  distance 
are  themselves  elevated  on  mountainous  ridges.  It  is  not  pre- 
tended, moreover,  that  this  forty  miles  telescopic  view  of  the 
moon  presented  its  objects  with  equal  distinctness,  though  it 
did  in  equal  size  to  those  of  this  earth,  so  remotely  stationed. 

The  elder  Herschel  had  nevertheless  demonstrated,  that  with 
a  power  of  1,000  times,  he  could  discern  objects  in  this  satel- 
lite of  not  more  than  122  yards  in  diameter.  If  therefore  the 
full  capability  of  the  instrument  had  been  elicited  by  the  new 
apparatus  of  reflectors  constructed  by  his  son,  it  would  follow, 
in  mathematical  ratio,  that  objects  could  be  discerned  of  not 
more  than  22  yards  in  diameter.  Yet  in  either  case  they  would 
be  seen  as  mere  feeble,  shapeless  points,  with  no  greater  conspi- 
.  cuity  than  they  would  exhibit  upon  earth  to  the  unaided  eye  at 
the  distance  of  forty  miles.  But  although  the  rotundity  of  the 
earth  presented  no  obstruction  to  a  view  of  these  astronomical 
objects,  we  believe  Sir  John  Herschel  never  insisted  that  he 
had  carried  out  these  extreme  powers  of  the  telescope  in  so  full 
a  ratio.  The  deficiency  of  light,  though  greatly  economised 
and  concentrated,  still  maintained  some  inverse  proportion  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  focal  image.  The  advance  he  had  made 
in  the  knowledge  of  this  planet,  though  magnificent  and 
sublime,  was  thus  but  partial  and  unsatisfactory.  He  was,  it 
is  true,  enabled  to  confirm  some  discoveries  of  former  observers. 


12  GKEAT    LUNAR 


and  to  confute  those 'of  others.  The  existence  of  volcanoes  dis- 
covered by  his  father  and  by  Scbroeter  of  Berlin,  and  the 
changes  observed  by  the  latter  in  the  volcano  in  the  Mare 
Orisium  or  Lucid  Lake,  were  corroborated  and  illustrated,  as 
was  also  the  prevalence  of  far  more  extensive  volcanic  pheno- 
mena. The  disproportionate  height  attributed  to  the  lunar 
mountains  was  corrected  from  careful  admeasurement ;  whilst 
the  celebrated  conical  hills,  encircling  valleys  of  vast  diameter, 
and  surrounding  the  lofty  central  hills,  were  distinctly  per- 
ceived. The  formation  which  Professor  Frauenhofer  unchari- 
tably conjectured  to  be  a  lunar  fortification,  he  ascertained  to 
be  a  tabular  buttress  of  a  remarkably  pyramidical  mountain  ; 
lines  which  had  been  whimsically  pronounced  roads  and  canals, 
he  found  to  be  keen  ridges  of  singularly  regular  rows  of  hills  ; 
and  that  which  Schroeter  imagined  to  be  a  great  eity  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Marius^  he  determined  to  be  a  valley  of  dis- 
jointed rocks  scattered  in  fragments,  which  averaged  at  least  a 
thousand  yards  in  diameter.  Thus  the  general  geography  of 
the  planet,  in  its  grand  outlines  of  cape,  continent,  mountain, 
ocean,  and  island,  was  surveyed  with  greater  particularity  and 
accuracy  than  by  any  previous  observer ;  and  the  striking  dis- 
similarity of  many  of  its  local  features  to  any  existing  on  our 
own  globe,  was  clearly  demonstrated.  The  best  enlarged  maps 
of  that  luminary  which  have  been  published  were  constructed 
from  this  survey ;  and  neither  the  astronomer  nor  the  public 
ventured  to  hope  for  any  great  accession  to  their  developments. 
The  utmost  power  of  the  largest  telescope  in  the  world  had 
been  exerted  in  a  new  and  felicitous  manner  to  obtain  them, 
:and  there  was  no  reasonable  expectation  that  a  larger  one 
would  ever  be  constructed,  or  that  it  could  be  advantageously 
used  if  it  were.  A  law  of  nature,  and  the  finitude  of  human 
skill,  seemed  united  in  inflexible  opposition  to  any  further  im- 
provement in  telescopic  science,  as  applicable  to  the  known 
planets  and  satellites  of  the  solar  system.  For  unless  the  sun 
could  be  prevailed  upon  to  extend  a  more  liberal  allowance  of 
light  to  these  bodies,  and  they  be  induced  to  transfer  it,  for  the 
generous  gratification  of  our  curiosity,  what  adequate  substitute 
could  be  obtained  ?    Telescopes  do  not  create  light,  they  can- 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  13 

not  even  transmit  unimpaired  that  which  they  receive.  That 
anj^thing  further  could  be  derived  from  human  skill  in  the 
construction  of  instruments,  the  labors  of  his  illustrious  prede- 
cessors, and'  his  own,  left  the  son  of  Herschel  no  reason  to 
hope.  Huygens,  Fontana,,  Gregory,  Kewton,  Hadley,  Bird, 
Short,  Dolland,  Herschel,  and  many  others,  all  practical  opti- 
cians, had  resorted  to  every  material  in  any  wise  adapted  to 
the  composition  either  of  lenses  or  reflectors,  and  had  exhausted 
every  law  of  vision  which  study  had  developed  and  demon- 
strated. In  the  construction  of  his  last  amazing  specula.  Sir 
John  Herschel  had  selected  the  most  approved  amalgams  that 
the  advanced  stage  of  metallic  chemistry  had  combined  ;  and 
had  watched  their  growing  brightness  under  the  hands  of  the 
artificer  with  more  anxious  hope  than  ever  lover  watched  the 
eye  of  his  mistress  ;;  and  he  had  nothing  further  to  expect  than 
they  had  accomplished.  He  had  the  satisfaction  to  know  that 
if  he  could  leap  astride  a  cannon  ball,  and  travel  upon  its  wings 
of  fury  for  the  respectable  period  of  several  millions  of  years, 
he  would  not  obtain  a  more  enlarged  view  of  the  distant  stars 
than  he  could  now  possess  in  a  few  minutes  of  time  ;  and  that 
it  would  require  an  ultrarrailroad  speed  of  fifty  miles  an  hour, 
for  nearly  the  live-long  year,  to  secure  him  a  more  favorable 
inspection  of  the  gentle-  luminary  of  night.  The  interesting 
question,  however,  whether  this  light  of  the  solemn  forest,  of 
the  treeless  desert,  and  of  the  deep  blue  ocean  as  it  rolls ;  whe- 
ther this  object  of  the  lonely  turret,  of  the  uplifted  eye  on  the 
deserted  battle-field,  and  of  all  the  pilgrims  of  love  and  hope, 
of  misery  and  despair,  that  have  journeyed  over  the  hills  and 
valleys  of  this  earth,  through  all  the  eras  of  its  unwritten  his- 
tory to  those  of  its  present  voluminous  record  ;  the  exciting 
question,  whether  this  "  observed  "  of  all  the  sons  of  men,  from 
the  days  of  Eden  to  those  of  Edinburgh,  be  inhabited  by  beings 
like  ourselves,  of  consciousness  and  curiosity,  was  left  for  solu- 
tion to  the  benevolent  index  of  natural  analogy,  or  to  the  severe 
tradition  that  it  is  tenanted  only  by  the  hoary  solitaire  whom 
the  criminal  code  of  the  nursery  had  banished  thither  for  col- 
lecting fuel  on  the  Sabbath-day. 

The  limits  of  discovery  in  the  planetary  bodies,  and  in  this 


14  GREAT   LUNAR 

one  especially,  thus  seemed  to  be  immutably  fixed ;  and  no 
expectation  was  elevated  for  a  period  of  several  years.  Bat, 
about  three  years  ago,  in  the  course  of  a  conversational  discus- 
sion with  Sir  David  Brewster  upon  the  merits  of  some  ingeni- 
ous suggestions  by  the  latter,  in  his  article  on  optics  in  the 
Edinburgh  Encyclopedia  (p.  644),  for  improvements  in  the 
Kewtonian  Keflectors,  Sir  John  Herschel  adverted  to  the  con- 
venient simplicity  of  the  old  astronomical  telescopes  that  were 
without  tubes,  and  the  object-glass  of  which,  placed  upon  a 
high  pole,  threw  its  focal  image  to  a  distance  of  150,  and  even 
200  feet.  Dr.  Brewster  readily  admitted  that  a  tube  was  not 
necessary,  provided  the  focal  image  were  conveyed  into  a  dark 
apartment^  and  there  properly  received  by  reflectors.  Sir  John 
then  said  that,  if  his  father's  great  telescope,  the  tube  alone  of 
which,  though  formed  of  the  lightest  suitable  materials,  weighed 
3,000  lbs.,  possessed  an  easy  and  steady  mobility  with  its  heavy 
observatory  attached,  an  observatory  moveable  without  the  in- 
cumbrance of  such  a  tube,  was  obviously  practical.  This  also 
was  admitted,  and  the  conversation  became  directed  to  that  all- 
invincible  enemy.  The  paucity  of  light  in  powerful  magnifiers. 
After  a  few  moments'  silent  thought.  Sir  John  diflidently  in- 
quired whether  it  would  not  be  possible  to  eff'ect  a  transfusion 
of  artificial  light  through  the  focal  ohject  of  vision  !  Sir  David, 
somewhat  startled  at  the  originality  of  the  idea,  paused  awhile, 
and  then  hesitatingly  referred  to  the  refrangibility  of  rays,  and 
the  angle  of  incidence.  Sir  John,  grown  more  confident,  ad- 
duced the  example  of  the  I^ewtonian  Reflector,  in  which  the 
refrangibility  was  corrected  by  the  second  speculum,  and  the 
angle  of  incidence  restored  by  the  third,  "  And,"  continued 
he,  "  why  cannot  the  illuminated  microscope,  say  the  hydro- 
oxygen,  be  applied  to  render  distinct,  and,  if  necessary,  even  to 
magnify  the  focal  object  ?"  Sir  David  sprung  from  his  chair  in 
an  ecstacy  of  conviction,  and  leaping  half-way  to  the  ceiling, 
exclaimed,  "  Thou  art  the  man  !"  Each  philosopher  anticipated 
the  other  in  presenting  the  prompt  illustration  that  if  the  rays 
of  the  hydro-oxygen  microscope,  passed  through  a  drop  of 
water  containing  the  larvae  of  a  gnat  and  other  objects  invisible 
to  the  naked  eye,  rendered  them  not  only  keenly  but  firmly 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  15 

magnified  to  dimensions  of  many  feet ;  so  could  tlie  same  arti- 
ficial light,  passed  through  the  faintest  focal  object  of  a  tele- 
scope, both  distinctifj  (to  coin  a  new  word  for  an  extraordinary- 
occasion)  and  magnify  its  feeblest  component  members.  The 
only  apparent  desideratum  was  a  recipient  for  the  focal  image 
which  should  transfer  it,  without  refranging  it,  to  the  surface  on 
which  it  was  to  be  viewed  under  the  revivifying  light  of  the 
microscopic  reflectors.  In  the  various  experiments  made 
during  the  few  following  weeks,  the  co-operative  philosophers 
decided  that  a  medium  of  the  purest  plate  glass  (which  it  is 
said  they  obtained,  by  consent,  be  it  observed,  from  the  shop 
window  of  Mons.  Desanges,  the  jeweller  to  his  ex-majesty 
Charles  X.,  in  High  street)  was  the  most  eligible  they  could 
discover.  It  answered  perfectly  with  a  telescope  which 
magnified  100  times,  and  a  microscope  of  about  thrice  that 
power. 

Sir  John  Plerschel  then  conceived  the  stupendous  fabric  of 
his  present  telescope.  The  power  of  his  father's  instrument 
would  still  leave  him  distant  from  his  favorite  planet  nearly 
forty  miles,  and  he  resolved  to  attempt  a  greater  magnifier. 
Money,  the  wings  of  science  as  the  sinews  of  war,  seemed  the 
only  requisite,  and  even  the  acquisition  of  this,  which  is  often 
more  difficult  than  the  task  of  Sisyphus,  he  determined  to 
achieve.  Fully  sanctioned  by  the  high  optical  authority  of  Sir 
David  Brewster,  he  laid  his  plan  before  the  Royal  Society,  and 
particularly  directed  to  it  the  attention  of  His  Royal  Highness 
the  Duke  of  Sussex,  the  ever  munificent  patron  of  science  and 
the  arts.  It  was  immediately  and  enthusiastically  approved  by 
the  committee  chosen  to  investigate  it,  and  the  chairman,  who 
was  the  Royal  President,  subscribed  his  name  for  a  contribu- 
tion of  £10,000,  with  a  promise  that  he  would  zealously  sub- 
mit the  proposed  instrument  as  a  fit  object  for  the  patronage  of 
the  privy  purse.  He  did  so  without  delay,  and  his  Majesty, 
on  being  informed  that  the  estimated  expense  was  iJ 70,000, 
naively  inquired  if  the  costly  instrument  would  conduce  to  any 
improvement  in  navigation  f  On  being  informed  that  it  un- 
doubtedly would,  the  sailor  King  promised  a  carte  hlancTi  for  the 
amount  which  might  be  required. 


16  GREAT   LTJNAE 

Sir  John  Herscliel  had  submitted  his  plans  and  calculations 
in  adaptation  to  an  object-glass  of  twenty -four  feet  in  diameter: 
just  six  times  the  size  of  his  yenerable  father's.  For  casting 
this  ponderous  mass,  he  selected  the  large  glass-house  of 
Messrs.  Hartlj  and  Grant,  (the  brother  of  our  invaluable 
friend  Dr.  Grant)  at  Dumbarton.  The  material  chosen  was  an 
amalgamation  of  two  parts  of  the  best  crown  with  one  of  flint 
glass,  the  use  of  which,  in  separate  lenses,  constituted  the  great 
achromatic  discovery  of  Dolland.  It  had  been  found,  howerer, 
by  accurate  experiments,  that  the  amalgam  would  as  com- 
pletely triumph  over  every  impediment,  both  from  refrangi- 
bility  and  discoloration,  as  the  separate  lenses.  Five  furnaces 
of  the  metal,  carefully  collected  from  productions  of  the 
manufactory,  in  both  the  kinds  of  glass,  and  known  to  he 
respectively  of  nearly  perfect  homogenous  quality,  were 
united,  by  one  grand  conductor,  to  the  mould ;  and  on  the 
third  of  January,  1833,  the  first  cast  was  effected.  After 
cooling  eight  days,  the  mould  was  opened,  and  the  glass  found 
to  be  greatly  flawed  within  eighteen  inches  of  the  centre. 
I^fotwithstanding  this  failure,  a  new  glass  was  more  carefully 
cast  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  which  on  being  opened 
during  the  first  week  of  February,  was  found  to  be  im- 
maculately perfect,  with  the  exception  of  two  slight  flaws  so 
near  the  line  of  its  circumference  that  they  would  be  covered 
by  the  copper  ring  in  which  it  was  designed  to  be  en- 
closed. 

The  weight  of  this  prodigious  lens  was  14,826  lbs.  or  nearly 
seven  tons  after  being  polished  ;  and  its  estimated  magnifying 
power  42,000  times.  It  was  therefore  presumed  to  be  capable 
of  representing  objects  in  our  lunar  satellite  of  little  more  than 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  provided  its  focal  image  of  them 
could  be  rendered  distinct  by  the  transfusion  of  artificial  light. 
It  was  not,  however,  upon  the  mere  illuminating  power  of  the 
hydro-oxygen  microscope,  as  applied  to  the  focal  pictures  of 
this  lens,  that  the  younger  Herschel  depended  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  ambitious  theories  and  hopes.  He  calculated 
largely  upon  the  almost  illimitable  applicability  of  this  instru- 
ment as  a  second  magnifier,  which  would  supersede  the  use, 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  17 

and  infinitely  transcend  the  powers  of  the  highest  magnifiers  in 
reflecting  telescopes. 

So  sangninely  indeed  did  he  calculate  upon  the  advantages 
of  this  splendid  alliance,  that  he  expressed  confidence  in  his 
ultimate  ability  to  study  even  the  entomology  of  the  moon,  in 
case  she  contained  insects  upon  her  surface.  Having  witnessed 
the  completion  of  this  great  lens,  and  its  safe  transportation  to 
the  metropolis,  his  next  care  was  the  construction  of  a  suitable 
microscope,  and  of  the  mechanical  frame- w'ork  for  the  horizontal 
and  vertical  action  of  the  whole.  His  plans  in  every  branch  of 
his  undertaking  having  been  intensely  studied,  even  to  their 
minutest  details,  were  easily  and  rapidly  executed.  He  awaited 
only  the  appointed  period  at  which  he  was  to  convey  his  mag- 
nificent apparatus  to.  its  destination. 

A  correspondence  had  for  some  time  passed  between  the 
Boards  of  England,  France,  and  Austria,  Math  a  view  to  im- 
provements in  the  tables  of  longitude  in  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere ;  which  are  found  to  be  much  less  accurate  than  those 
of  the  northern.  The  high  opinion  entertained  by  the  British 
Board  of  Longitude  of  the  principles  of  the  new  telescope,  and 
of  the  profound  skill  of  its  inventor,  determined  the  govern- 
ment to  solicit  his  services  in  observing  the  transit  of  Mercury 
over  the  sun's  disk,  which  will  take  place  on  the  7th  of  No- 
vember in  the  present  year  :  and  which,  as  it  will  occur  at  7h. 
4:Tm.  55s.  night,  conjunction,  meantime  ;  and  at  8h.  12m.  22s. 
middle,  true  time,  will  be  invisible  to  nearly  all  the  northern 
hemisphere.  The  place  at  which  the  transits  of  Mercury  and 
of  Yenus  have  generally  been  observed  by  the  astronomers  of 
Europe,  when  occurring  under  these  circumstances,  is  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope;  and  no  transit  of  Yenus  having  occurred  since 
the  year  1769,  and  none  being  to  occur  before  1874,  the  accu- 
rate observation  of  the  transits  of  Mercury,  which  occur  more 
frequently,  has  been  found  of  great  importance  both  to 
astronomy  and  navigation.  To  the  latter  useful  art,  indeed,  the 
transits  of  Mercury  are  nearly  as  important  as  those  of  Yenus; 
for  although  those  of  the  latter  planet  have  the  peculiar 
advantage  of  determining  exactly  the  great  solar  parallax,  and 
thence  the  distances  of  all  the  planets  from  the  sun,  yet  the 

2 


18  GREAT  LUNAR 


transits  of  Mercury,  by  exactly  determining  the  place  of  its 
own  node,  independently  of  the  parallax  of  the  great  orb,  de- 
termine the  parallax  of  the  earth  and  moon  ;  and  are  therefore 
especially  valuable  in  lunar  observations  of  Longitude.  The 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  has  been  found  preferable,  in  these  obser- 
vations, to  any  other  station  in  the  hemisphere.  The  expedi- 
tion which  went  to  Peru,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
to  ascertain,  in  conjunction  with  another  in  Lapland,  the.  true 
figure  of  the  earth,  found  the  attraction  of  the  mountainous 
regions  so  strong  as  to  cause  the  plum-line  of  one  of  their  large 
instruments  to  deflect  seven  or  eight  seconds  from  the  true  per- 
pendicular ;  whilst  the  elevated  plains  at  the  Cape  unite  all  the 
advantages  of  a  lucid  atmosphere  with  an  entire  freedom  from 
mountainous  obstruction.  Sir  John  Herschel,  therefore,  not 
only  accepted  the  appointment  with  high  satisfaction,  but 
requested  that  it  might  commence  at  least  a  year  before  the 
period  of  the  transit,  to  afford  him  time  to  bring  his  ponderous 
and  complicated  machinery  into  perfect  adjustment,  and  to  ex- 
tend his  knowledge  of  the  southern  constellations. 

His  wish  was  immediately  assented  to,  and  his  arrangements 
being  completed,  he  sailed  from  London  on  the  4th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1834,  in  company  with  Dr.  Andrew  Grant,  Lieutenant 
Drurnmond,  of  the  Koyal  Engineers,  F.R.A.S.,  and  a  large 
party  of  the  best  English  mechanics.  They  arrived,  after  an 
expeditious  and  agreeable  passage,  and  immediately  proceeded 
to  transport  the  lens,  and  the  frame  of  the  large  observatory,  to 
its  destined  site,  which  was  a  piece  of  table-land  of  great  extent 
and  elevation,  about  thirty-five  miles  to  the  north-east  of  Cape- 
town ;  and  which  is  said  to  be  the  very  spot  on  which  De  la 
Caille,  in  1750,  constructed  his  invaluable  solar  tables,  when  he 
measured  a  degree  of  the  meridian,  and  made  a  great  advance, 
to  exactitude  in  computing  the  solar  parallax  from  that  of  Mars 
and  the  Moon.  Sir  John  accomplished  the  ascent  to  the  plains 
by  means  of  two  relief  teams  of  oxen,  of  eighteen  each,  in  about 
four  days  ;  and,  aided  by  several  companies  of  Dutch  boors, 
proceeded  at  once  to  the  erection  of  his  gigantic  fabric. 

The  ground  plan  of  the  structure  is  in  some  respects  similar 
to  that  of  the  Herschel  telescope    in  England,   except  that 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  19 

instead  of  circular  foundations  of  brickwork,  it  consists  of 
parallel  circles  of  railroad  iton,  upon  wooden  framework  ;  so 
constructed  that  the  turn-outs,  or  rather  turn-ins,  from  the 
largest  circle,  will  conduct  the  observatory,  which  moves  upon 
them,  to  the  innermost  circle,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  lens- 
works  ;  and  to  each  of  the  circles  that  intervene.  The  diameter 
of  the  smallest  circle  is  twenty-eight  feet :  that  of  the  largest 
our  correspondent  has  singularly  forgotten  to  state,  though  it 
may  be  in  some  measure  computed  from  the  angle  of  incidence 
projected  by  the  lens,  and  the  space  occupied  by  the  observa- 
tory. The  latter  is  a  wooden  building  fifty  feet  square  and  as 
many  high,  with  a  flat  roof  and  gutters  of  thin  copper.  Through 
the  side  proximate  to  the  lens,  is  an  aperture  four  feet  in 
diameter  to  receive  its  rays,  and  through  the  roof  another  for 
the  same  purpose  in  meridional  observations.  The  lens,  which 
is  inclosed  in  a  frame  of  wood,  and  braced  to  its  corners  by 
bars  of  copper,  is  suspended  upon  an  axis  between  two  pillars 
which  are  nearly  as  high  as  those  which  supported  the  celebrated 
quadrant  of  Uleg  Beg,  being  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  These 
are  united  at  the  top  and  bottom  by  cross-pieces,  and  strengthened 
by  a  number  of  diagonal  braces  ;  and  between  them  is  a  double 
capstan  for  hoisting  the  lens  from  its  horizontal  line  with  the 
observatory  to  the  height  required  by  its  focal  distance  when 
turned  to  the  meridian  ;  and  for  elevating  it  to  any  intermediate 
degree  of  altitude  that  may  be  needed.  This  last  operation  is 
beautifully  regulated  by  an  immense  double  sextant,  which  is 
connected  and  moves  with  the  axis  of  the  lens,  and  is  regularly 
divided  into  degrees,  minutes,  and  seconds  ;  and  the  horizontal 
circles  of  the  observatory  being  also  divided  into  360  degrees, 
and  minutely  subdivided,  the  whole  instrument  has  the  powers 
and  regularity  of  the  most  improved  theodolite.  Having  no 
tube,  it  is  connected  with  the  observatory  by  two  horizontal 
levers,  which  pass  underneath  the  floor  of  that  building  from 
the  circular  basis  of  the  pillars ;  thus  keeping  the  lens  always 
square  with  the  observatory,  and  securing  to  both  a  uniform  and 
simple  movement.  By  means  of  these  levers,  too,  a  rack  and 
windlass,  the  observatory  is  brought  to  any  degree  of  approxi- 
mation to  the  pillars  that  the  altitude  of  an  observation  may 


20  GREAT  LUNAE 

require  ;  and  although,  when  at  its  nearest  station  it  cannot 
command  an  observation  with  tlie  great  lens  within  about 
fifteen  degrees  of  the  meridian,  it  is  supplied  with  an  excellent 
telescope  of  vast  power,  constructed  by  the  elder  Herschel,  bj 
which  every  high  degree  can  be  surveyed.  The  field  of  view, 
therefore,  whether  exhibited  on  the  floor  or  on  the  w^all  of  the 
apartment,  has  a  diameter  of  nearly  fifty  feet,  and,  being  cir- 
cular, it  has  therefore  an  area  of  nearly  1875  feet.  The  place 
of  all  the  horizontal  movements  having  been  accurately  levelled 
by  Lieut.  Druramond,  with  the  improved  level  of  his  invention 
which  bears  his  name,  and  the  wheels  both  of  the  observatory 
and  of  the  lens-works  being  facilitated  by  friction-rollers  in  patent 
axle-boxes  filled  with  oil,  the  strength  of  one  man  applied  to 
the  extremity  of  the  levers  is  sufficient  to  propel  the  whole 
structure  upon  either  of  the  railroad  circles  ;  and  that  of  two 
men  applied  to  the  windlass  is  fully  adequate  to  bring  the  ob- 
servatory to  the  basis  of  the  pillars.  Both  of  these  movements, 
however,  are  now  effected  by  a  locomotive  apparatus  com- 
manded within  the  apartment  by  a  single  person,  and  showing, 
by  means  of  an  ingenious  index,  every  inch  of  progression  or 
retrogression. 

We  have  not  thus  particularly  described  the  telescope  of  the 
younger  Herschel  because  we  consider  it  the  most  magnificent 
specimen  of  philosophical  mechanism  of  the  present  or  any 
previous  age,  but  because  we  deemed  an  explicit  description  of 
its  principles  and  powers  an  almost  indispensable  introduction 
to  a  statement  of  the  sublime  expansion  of  human  knowledge 
which  it  has  achieved.  It  was  not  fully  completed  until  the 
latter  part  of  December,  when  the  series  of  large  reflectors  for 
the  microscope  arrived  from  England ;  and  it  was  brought 
into  operation  during  the  first  week  of  the  ensuing  month  and 
year.  But  the  secresy  which  had  been  maintained  with  regard 
to  its  novelty,  its  manufacture,  and  its  destination,  was  not  less 
rigidly  preserved  for  several  months  respecting  the  grandeur  of 
its  success.  Whether  the  British  Government  were  sceptical 
concerning  the  promised  splendor  of  its  discoveries,  or  wished 
them  to  be  scrupulously  veiled  until  they  had  accumulated  a 
a  full-orbed  glory  for  the  nation  and  reign  in  which  they  origi- 


ASTRONOMICAL  DISCO VEEIES.  21 

nated,  is  a  question  whicli  we  can  only  conjecturally  solve. 
But  certain  it  is  that  the  astronomer's  royal  patrons  enjoined  a 
masonic  taciturnity  upon  him  and  his  friends  until  he  should 
have  officially  communicated  the  results  of  his  great  experi- 
ment. Accordingly^,  the  world  heard  nothing  of  him  or  his 
expedition  until  it  was  announced  a  few  months  since  in  the 
scientific  journals  of  Germany,  that  Sir  John  Herschel,  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  had  written  to  the  astronomer-royal  of 
Yienna,  to  inform  him  that  the  portentous  comet  predicted  for 
the  year  1835,  which  was  to  approach  so  near  this  trembling 
globe  that  we  might  hear  the  roaring  of  its  tires,  had  turned 
upon  another  scent,  and  would  not  even  shake  a  hair  of  its  tail 
upon  our  hunting-grounds.  At  a  loss  to  conceive  by  what 
extra  authority  he  had  made  so  bold  a  declaration,  the  men  of 
science  in  Europe  who  were  not  acquainted  with  his  secret, 
regarded  his  "  postponement,"  as  his  discovery  was  termed, 
with  incredulous  contumely,  and  continued  to  terrorize  upon 
the  strength  of  former  predictions. 


KEW  LUNAE  DISCOVERIES. 

Until  the  10th  of  January,  the  observations  w^ere  chiefly 
directed  to  the  stars  in  the  southern  signs,  in  which,  without 
the  aid  of  the  hydro-oxygen  reflectors,  a  countless  number  of 
new  stars  and  nebula  were  discovered.  But  we  shall  defer 
our  correspondent's  account  of  these  to  future  pages,  for  the 
purpose  of  no  longer  withholding  from  our  readers  the  more  ge- 
nerally and  highly  interesting  discoveries  which  were  made  in 
the  lunar  world.  And  for  this  purpose,  too,  we  shall  defer  Dr. 
Grant's  elaborate  mathematical  details  of  the  corrections  which 
Sir  John  Herschel  has  made  in  the  best  tables  of  the  moon's 
tropical,  sidereal,  and  synodic  revolutions,  and  of  those  pheno- 
mena of  syzygies  on  which  a  great  part  of  the  established 
lunar  theory  depends. 

It  was  about  half-past  nine  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  10th, 
the  moon  having  then  advanced  within  four  days  of  her  mean 
libration,  that  the  astronomer  adjusted  his  instruments  for  the 


22  GREAT   LUNAR 

inspection  of  her  eastern  limb.  The  whole  immense  power  of 
liis  telescope  was  applied,  and  to  its  focal  image  about  one  half 
of  the  power  of  liis  microscope.  On  removing  the  screen  of 
the  latter,  the  field  of  view  was  covered  throughout  its  entire 
area  with  a  beautifully  distinct,  and  even  vivid  representation 
of  hasaltio  rock.  Its  color  was  a  greenish  brown,  and  the 
width  of  the  columns,  as  defined  by  their  interstices  on  the 
canvass,  was  invariably  twenty-eight  inches.  ISTo  fracture 
whatever  appeared  in  the  mass  first  presented,  but  in  a  few 
seconds  a  shelving  pile  appeared  of  five  or  six  columns  width, 
which  showed  their  figure  to  be  hexagonal,  and  their  articula- 
tions similar  to  those  of  the  basaltic  formation  at  Stafia.  This 
precipitous  shelf  was  profusely  covered  with  a  dark  red  flower, 
"  precisely  similar,"  says  Dr.  Grant, "  to  the  Papaver  Khoeas,  or 
rose-poppy  of  our  sublunary  cornfields ;  and  this  was  the  first 
organic  production  of  nature,  in  a  foreign  world,  ever  revealed 
to  the  eyes  of  men." 

The  rapidity  of  the  moon's  ascension,  or  rather  of  the  earth's 
diurnal  rotation,  being  nearly  equal  to  five  hundred  yards  in  a 
second,  would  have  eflTectually  prevented  the  inspection,  or  even 
the  discovery  of  objects  so  minute  as  these,  but  for  the  admi- 
rable mechanism  which  constantly  regulates,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  sextant,  the  required  altitude  of  the  lens.  But  its 
operation  v^as  found  to  be  so  consummately  perfect,  that  the 
observers  could  detain  the  object  upon  the  field  of  view  for 
any  period  they  might  desire.  The  specimen  of  lunar  vegeta- 
tion, however,  which  they  had  already  seen,  had  decided  a 
question  of  too  exciting  an  interest  to  induce  them  to  retard  its 
exit.  It  had  demonstrated  that  the  moon  has  an  atmosphere 
constituted  similarly  to  our  own,  and  capable  of  sustaining- 
organized,  and  therefore,  most  probably,  animal  life.  The 
basaltic  rocks  continued  to  pass  over  the  inclined  canvass 
plane,  through  three  successive  diameters,  when  a  verdant 
declivity  of  great  beauty  appeared,  which  occupied  tw^o  more. 
This  Avas  preceded  by  another  mass  of  nearly  the  former  height, 
at  the  base  of  which  they  were  at  length  delighted  to  perceive 
that  novelty,  a  lunar  forest.  "  The  trees,"  says  Dr.  Grant,  "  for 
a  period  of  ten  minutes,  were  of  one  unvaried  kind,  and  unlike 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  23 

any  I  have  seen,  except  the  largest  kind  of  yews  in  the  English 
churchyards,  wliich  they  in  some  respects  resemble.  These 
were  followed  by  a  level  green  j)lain,  which,  as  measured  by 
the  painted  circle  on  our  canvass  of  forty-nine  feet,  must  have 
been  more  than  half  a  mile  in  breadth  ;  and  then  appeared  as 
fine  a  forest  of  firs,  unequivocal  firs,  as  I  have  ever  seen  che- 
rished in  the  bosom  of  my  native  mountains.  Wearied  with 
the  long  continuance  of  these,  we  greatly  reduced  the  magni- 
fying power  of  the  microscope,  without  eclipsing  either  of  the 
reflectors,  and  immediately  perceived  that  we  had  been  in- 
sensibly descending,  as  it  were,  a  mountainous  district  of  a 
highly  diversified  and  romantic  character,  and  that  we  were  on 
the  verge  of  a  lake,  or  inland  sea  ;  but  of  what  relative  locality 
or  extent,  we  were  yet  too  greatly  magnified  to  determine.  On 
introducing  the  feeblest  acromatic  lens  we  possessed,  we  found 
that  the  water,  whose  boundary  we  had  just  discovered, 
answered  in  general  outline  to  the  Mare  Nubiiim  of  Riccoli,  by 
which  we  detected  that,  instead  of  commencing,  as  we  sup- 
posed, on  the  eastern  longitude  of  the  planet,  some  delay  in 
the  elevation  of  the  great  lens  had  thrown  us  nearly  upon  the 
axis  of  her  equator.  However,  as  she  was  a  free  country,  and 
we  not,  as  yet,  attached  to  any  particular  province,  and  more- 
over, since  we  could  at  any  moment  occupy  our  intended  posi- 
tion, we  again  slid  in  our  magic  lenses  to  survey  the  shores  of 
the  Mare  IN^ubium.  Why  Eiccoli  so  termed  it,  unless  in  ridi- 
cule of  Cleomedes,  I  know  not ;  for  fairer  shores  never  angels 
coasted  on  a  tour  of  pleasure.  A  beach  of  brilliant  white 
sand,  girt  with  wild  castellated  rocks,  apparently  of  green 
marble,  varied  at  chasms,  occurring  every  two  or  three  hun- 
dred feet,  with  grotesque  blocks  of  chalk  or  gypsum,  and  fea- 
thered and  festooned  at  the  summit  with  the  clustering  foliage 
of  unknown  trees,  moved  along  the  bright  wall  of  our  apart- 
ment until  we  were  speechless  with  admiration.  The  water, 
wherever  we  obtained  a  view  of  it,  was  nearly  as  blue  as  that 
of  the  deep  ocean,  and  broke  in  large  white  billows  upon  the 
strand.  The  action  of  very  high  tides  was  quite  manifest  upon 
the  face  of  the  clifts  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles ;  yet  diver- 
sified as  the  scenery  was  during  this  and  a  much  greater  dis- 


24  GEE  AT   LUNAR 

tance,  we  perceived  no  trace  of  animal  existence,  notwithstand- 
ing we  could  command  at  will  a  perspective  or  a  foreground 
view  of  the  whole.  Mr.  Holmes,  indeed,  pronounced  some 
white  objects  of  a  circular  form,  which  we  saw  at  some  dis- 
tance in  the  interior  of  a  cavern,  to  be  bona  fide  specimens  of 
a  large  cornu  ammonis ;  but  to  me  they  appeared  merely  large 
pebbles,  which  had  been  chafed  and  rolled  there  by  the  tides. 
Our  chase  of  animal  life  was  not  yet  to  be  rewarded. 

Having  continued  this  close  inspection  nearly  two  hours, 
during  which  we  ]3assed  over  a  wide  tract  of  country,  chiefly 
of  a  rugged  and  apparently  volcanic  character  ;  and  having 
seen  few  additional  varieties  of  vegetation,  except  some  spe- 
cies of  lichen,  which  grew  everywhere  in  great  abundance, 
Dr.  Herschel  proposed  that  we  should  take  out  all  our  lenses, 
give  a  rapid  speed  to  the  panorama,  and  search  for  some  of 
the  principal  valleys  known  to  astronomers,  as  the  most  likely 
method  to  reward  our  first  night's  observation  with  the  dis- 
covery of  animated  beings.  The  lenses  being  removed,  and 
the  efiulgence  of  our  unutterably  glorious  reflectors  left  undi- 
minished, we  found,  in  accordance  with  our  calculations,  that 
our  field  of  view  comprehended  about  twenty-five  miles  of  the 
lunar  surface,  with  the  distinctness  both  of  outline  and  detail 
which  could  be  procured  of  a  terrestrial  object  at  the  distance 
of  two  and  a  half  miles  ;  an  optical  phenomenon  which  you 
will  find  demonstrated  in  Note  5.  This  afforded  us  the  best 
landscape  views  we  had  hitherto  obtained,  and  although  the 
accelerated  motion  was  rather  too  great,  we  enjoyed  them  with 
rapture.  Several  of  those  famous  valleys,  which  are  bounded 
by  lofty  hills  of  so  perfectly  conical  a  form  as  to  render  them 
less  like  works  of  nature  than  of  art,  passed  the  canvass  before 
we  had  time  to  check  their  flight ;  but  presentlj^  a  train  of 
scenery  met  our  eye,  of  features  so  entirely  novel,  that  Dr. 
Herschel  signalled  for  the  lowest  convenient  gradation  of 
movement.  It  was  a  lofty  chain  of  obelisk-shaped,  or  very 
slender  pyramids,  standing  in  irregular  groups,  each  composed 
of  about  thirty  or  forty  spires,  every  one  of  which  was  per- 
fectly square,  and  as  accurately  truncated  as  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  Cornish  crystal.     They  were  of  a  faint  lilac  hue,  and 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  25 

very  resplendent.  I  now  tbonglit  tliat  we  had  assuredly  fallen 
on  productions  of  art ;  but  Dr.  Herscliel  slirewdly  remarked, 
that  if  the  Lunarians  could  build  thirty  or  forty  miles  of  such 
monuments  as  these,  we  should  ere  now  have  discovered  others 
of  a  less  equivocal  character.  He  pronounced  them  quartz 
formations,  of  probably  the  wine-colored  amethyst  species,  and 
promised  us,  from  these  and  other  proofs  which  he  had 
obtained  of  the  powerful  action  of  laws  of  crystallization  in  this 
planet,  a  rich  field  of  mineralogical  study.  On  introducing  a 
lens,  his  conjecture  was  fully  confirmed  ;  they  were  monstrous 
amethysts,  of  a  diluted  claret  color,  glowing  in  the  intensest 
light  of  the  sun  !  They  varied  in  height  from  sixty  to  ninety 
feet,  though  we  saw  several  of  a  still  more  incredible  altitude. 
They  were  observed  in  a  succession  of  valleys  divided  by  lon- 
gitudinal lines  of  round-breasted,  hills,  covered  with  verdure 
and  nobly  undulated ;  but  what  is  most  remarkable,  the  valleys 
which  contained  these  stupendous  crystals  were  invariably  bar- 
ren, and  covered  with  stones  of  a  ferruginous  hue,  which  were 
probably  iron  pyrites.  "We  found  that  some  of  these  curiosi- 
ties were  situated  in  a  district  elevated  half  a  mile  above  the 
valley  of  the  Mare  Foecunditatis,  of  Mayer  and  Riccioli ;  the 
shores  of  which  soon  hove  in  view.  But  never  was  a  name 
more  inappropriately  bestowed.  From  "Dan  to  Beersheba" 
all  was  barren,  barren — the  sea-board  was  entirely  composed  of 
chalk  and  flint,  and  not  a  vestige  of  vegetation  could  be  dis- 
covered with  our  strongest  glasses.  The  whole  breadth  of  the 
northern  extremity  of  this  sea,  which  was  about  three  hundred 
miles,  having  crossed  our  plane,  we  entered  upon  a  wild  moun- 
tainous region  abounding  with  more  extensive  forests  of  larger 
trees  than  we  had  before  seen — the  species  of  which  I  have 
no  good  analogy  to  describe.  In  general  contour  they  resem- 
bled our  forest  oak  ;  but  they  were  much  more  superb  in 
foliage,  having  broad  glossy  leaves  like  that  of  the  laurel,  and 
tresses  of  yellow  flowers  which  hung,  in  the  open  glades,  from 
the  branches  to  the  ground.  These  mountains  passed,  we  arrived 
at  a  region  which  filled  us  Math  utter  astonishment.  It  was  an 
oval  valley,  surrounded,  except  at  a  narrow  opening  towards 
the  south,  by  hills,  red  as  the  purest  vermilion,  and  evidently 


26  GREAT  LUNAR 

crystallized  ;  for  wherever  a  precipitous  chasm  appeared — and 
these  chasms  were  very  frequent,  and  of  immense  depth — the 
perpendicular  sections  presented  conglomerated  masses  of 
polygon  crystals,  evenly  litted  -to  each  other,  and  arranged  in 
deep  strata,  which  grew  darker  in  color  as  they  descended  to 
the  foundations  of  the  precipices.  Innumerable  cascades  were 
bursting  forth  from  the  breasts  of  every  one  of  these  cliffs,  and 
some  so  near  their  summits,  and  with  such  great  force,  as  to 
form  arches  many  yards  in  diameter.  I  never  was  so  vividly 
reminded  of  Byron's  simile,  "  the  tale  of  the  white  horse  in  the 
Revolution."  At  the  foot  of  this  boundary  of  hills  was  a  per- 
fect zone  of  woods  surrounding  the  whole  valley,  which  was 
about  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  wide,  at  its  greatest  breadth, 
and  about  thirty  in  length.  Small  collections  of  trees,  of  every 
imaginable  kind,  were  scattered  about  the  whole  of  the  luxuri- 
ant area ;  and  here  our  magnifiers  blest  our  panting  hopes 
with  specimens  of  conscious  existence.  In  the  shade  of  the 
woods  on  the  south-eastern  side,  we  beheld  continuous  herds  of 
brown  quadrupeds,  having  all  the  external  characteristics  of 
the  bison,  but  more  diminutive  than  any  species  of  the  bos 
genus  in  our  natural  history.  Its  tail  is  like  that  of  our  bos 
grunniens;  but  in  its  semi-circular  horns,  the  hump  on  its 
shoulders,  and  the  depth  of  its  dewlap,  and  the  length  of  its 
shaggy  hair,  it  closely  resembled  the  species  to  which  I  first 
compared  it.  It  had,  however,  one  widely  distinctive  feature, 
which  we  afterwards  found  common  to  nearly  every  lunar  qua- 
druped we  have  discovered ;  namely,  a  remarkable  fleshy 
appendage  over  the  e^^es,  crossing  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
forehead  and  united  to  the  ears.  We  could  most  distinctly 
perceive  this  hairy  veil,  which  was  shaped  like  the  upper 
front  outline  of  a  cap  known  to  the  ladies  as  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots'  cap,  lifted  and  lowered  by  means  of  the  ears.  It  imme- 
diately occurred  to  the  acute  mind  of  Dr.  Herschel,  that  this  was 
a  providential  contrivance  to  protect  the  eyes  of  the  animal 
from  the  great  extremes  of  light  and  darkness  to  which  all  the 
inhabitants  of  our  side  of  the  moon  are  periodically  subjected. 
The  next  animal  perceived  would  be  classed  on  earth  as  a 
monster.     It  was  of  a  bluish  lead  color,  about  the  size  of  a 


ASTROKOMICAL  DISCOVEEIES.  ,  2l 

goat,  with  a  head  and  beard  like  him,  and  a  single  horn, 
slightly  inclined  forward  from  the  perpendicular.  The  female 
was  destitute  of  the  horn  and  beard,  bnt  had  a  much  longer 
tail.  It  was  gregarious,  and  chiefly  abounded  on  the  acclivi- 
tous  glades  of  the  woods.  In  elegance  of  symmetry  it  rivalled 
the  antelope,  and  like  him  it  seemed  an  agile  sprightly  crea- 
ture, running  with  great  speed,  and  springing  from  the  green 
turf  with  all  the  unaccountable  antics  of  a  young  lamb  or  kit- 
ten. This  beautiful  creature  afforded  us  the  most  exquisite 
amusement.  The  mimicry  of  its  movements  upon  our  white 
painted  canvass  was  as  faithful  and  luminous  as  that  of  animals 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  camera  obscura,  when  seen  pictured 
upon  its  tympan.  Frequently  when  attempting  to  put  our 
fingers  upon  its  beard,  it  would  suddenly  bound  away  into 
oblivion,  as  if  conscious  of  our  earthly  impertinence ;  but  then 
others  would  appear,  whom  we  could  not  prevent  nibbling  the 
herbage,  say  or  do  what  we  would  to  them. 

On  examining  the  centre  of  this  dehghtful  valley,  we  found 
a  large  branching  river,  abounding  with  lovely  islands,  and 
water-birds  of  numerous  kinds.  A  species  of  grey  pelican  was 
the  most  numerous ;  but  a  black  and  white  crane,  with  unrea- 
sonably long  legs  and  bill,  were  also  quite  common.  We 
watched  their  pisciverous  experiments  a  long  time,  in  hopes  of 
catching  sight  of  a  lunar  fish  ;  but  although  we  were  not  grati- 
fied in  this  respect,  we  could  easily  guess  the  purpose  with 
which  they  plunged  their  long  necks  so  deeply  beneath  the 
water.  Near  the  upper  extremity  of  one  of  these  islands  we 
obtained  a  glimpse  of  a  strange  amphibious  creature,  of  a  spheri- 
cal form,  which  rolled  with  great  velocity  across  the  pebbly 
beach,  and  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  strong  current  which  set  off 
from  this  angle  of  the  island.  We  were  compelled,  however,  to 
leave  this  prolific  valley  unexplored,  on  account  of  clouds  which 
were  evidently  accumulating  in  the  lunar  atmosphere,  our  own 
being  perfectly  translucent.  But  this  was  itself  an  interesting 
discovery,  for  more  distant  observers  had  questioned  or  denied 
the  existence  of  any  humid  atmosphere  in  this  planet. 

The  moon  being  now  low  on  her  descent.  Dr.  ITerschel 
inferred  that  the  increasing  refrangibility  of  her  rays  would 


28  GREAT   LUjS'AE 

prevent  any  satisfactory  protraction  of  our  labors,  and  our 
minds  being  actually  fatigued  with  the  excitement  of  the  high 
enjoyments  we  had  partaken,  we  mutually  agreed  to  call  in 
the  assistants  at  the  lens,  and  reward  their  vigilant  attention 
with  congratulatory  bumpers  of  the  best  "  East  India  Particu- 
lar." It  was  not,  however,  without  regret  that  we  left  the 
splendid  valley  of  the  red  mountains,  which,  in  compliment  to 
the  arms  of  our  royal  patron,  we  denominated  "  the  Yalley  of 
the  Unicorn;"  and  it  may  be  found  in  Blunt's  map,  about 
■  midway  between  the  Mare  Fo3cnnditatis  and  the  Mare  Nectaris. 
The  nights  of  the  11th  and  12th  being  cloudy,  were  unfavora- 
ble to  observation ;  but  on  those  of  the  13th  and  IMi  further 
animal  discoveries  were  made  of  the  most  exciting  interest  to 
every  human  being.  We  give  them  in  the  graphic  language 
of  our  accomplished  correspondent : — 

"  The  astonishing  and  beautiful  discoveries  which  we  had 
made  during  our  first  night's  observation,  and  the  brilliant 
promise  which  they  gave  of  the  future,  rendered  every  moon- 
light hour  too  precious  to  reconcile  us  to  the  deprivation  occa- 
sioned by  these  two  cloudy  evenings ;  and  they  were  borne 
with  strictly  philosophical  patience,  notwithstanding  that  our 
attention  was  closely  occupied  in  superintending  the  erection 
of  additional  props  and  braces  to  the  twenty-four  feet  lens, 
which  we  found  had  somewhat  vibrated  in  a  high  wind  that 
arose  on  the  morning  of  the  11th.  The  night  of  the  13th 
(January)  was  one  of  pearly  pm-ity  and  loveliness.  The  moon 
ascended  the  firmament  in  gorgeous  splendor,  and  the  stars, 
retiring  around  her,  left  her  the  unrivalled  queen  of  the  hemi- 
sphere. This  being  the  last  night  but  one,  in  the  present  month, 
during  which  we  should  have  an  opportunity  of  inspecting  her 
western  limb,  on  account  of  the  libration  in  longitude  which 
would  thence  immediately  ensue,  Dr.  Herschel  informed  us 
that  he  should  direct  our  researches  to  the  parts  numbered  2, 
11,  26,  and  20-  in  Blunt's  map,  and  which  are  respectively 
known  in  the  modern  catalogue  by  the  names  of  Endymion, 
Cleomedes,  Langrenus,  and  Petavius.  To  the  careful  inspec- 
tion of  these,  and  the  regions  between  them  and  the  extreme 
western  rim,  he  proposed  to  devote  the  whole  of  this  highly 


ASTRONOmCAL   DISCO VEEIES.  29 

favorable  night.  Taking  then  our  twenty-five  miles  breadth  of 
her  surface  upon  the  field  of  view,  and  reducing  it  to  a  slow 
movement,  we  soon  found  the  first  ybyj  singularly  shaped 
object  of  our  inquiry.  It  is  a  highly  mountainous  district,  the 
loftier  chains  of  which  form  three  narrow  ovals,  two  of  which 
approach  each  other  in  slender  points,  and  are  united  by  one 
mass  of  hills  of  great  length  and  elevation ;  thus  presenting  a 
figure  similar  to  that  of  a  long  skein  of  thread,  the  bows  of 
which  have  been  gradually  spread  open  from  their  connecting 
knot.  The  third  oval  looks  also  like  a  skein,  and  lies  as  if 
carelessly  dropped  from  nature's  hand  in  connection  with  the 
other ;  but  that  which  might  fancifully  be  supposed  as  having 
formed  the  second  bow  of  this  second  skein  is  cut  open,  and 
lies  in  scattered  threads  of  smaller  hills  which  cover  a  great 
extent  of  level  territory.  The  ground  plan  of  these  mountains 
is  so  remarkable  that  it  has  been  accurately  represented  in 
almost  every  lineal  map  of  the  moon  that  has  been  drawn ;  and 
in  Blunt's,  which  is  the  best,  it  agrees  exactly  with  ray  descrip- 
tion. Within  the  grasp,  as  it  were,  of  the  broken  bow  of  hills 
last  mentioned,  stands  an  oval-shaped  mountain,  enclosing  a 
valley  of  an  immense  area,  and  having  on  its  western  ridge  a 
volcano  in  a  state  of  terrific  eruption.  To  the  north-east  of 
this,  across  the  broken,  or  what  Mr,  Holmes  called  '  the  vaga- 
bond mountains,'  are  three  other  detached  oblong  formations, 
the  largest  and  last  of  which  is  marked  F  in  the  catalogue,  and 
fancifully  denominated  the  Mare  Mortuum,  or  more  commonly 
,  the  '  Lake  of  Death.'  ■  Induced  by  a  curiosity  to  divine  the 
reason  of  so  sombre  a  title,  rather  than  by  any  more  philosophi- 
cal motive,  we  here  first  applied  our  hydro-oxygen  magnifiers 
to  the  focal  image  of  the  great  lens.  Our  twenty-five  miles 
portion  of  this  great  mountain  circus  had  comprehended  the 
whole  of  its  area,  and  of  course  the  two  conical  hills  which  rise 
in  it  about  five  miles  from  each  other ;  but  although  this  breadth 
of  view  had  heretofore  generally  presented  its  objects  as  if  seen 
within  a  terrestrial  distance  of  two  and  a  half  miles,  we  were, 
in  this  instance,  unable  to  discern  these  central  hills  with  any 
such  degree  of  distinctness.  There  did  not  appear  to  be  any 
mist  or  smoke  around  them,  as  in  the  case  of  the  volcano  which 


30  GREAT  LUKAR 

we  bad  left  in  the  south-west,  and  yet  they  were  comparatively 
indistinct  upon  the  canvass.  On  sliding  in  the  gas-light  lens 
the  mystery  was  immediately  solved.  They  were  old  craters  of 
extinct  volcanoes,  from  which  still  issued  a  heated  though 
transparent  exhalation,  that  kept  them  in  an  apparently  oscil- 
latory or  trembling  motion,  most  unfavorable  to  examination. 
The  craters  of  both  these  hills,  as  nearly  as  we  could  judge 
under  this  obstruction,  were  about  fifteen  fathoms  deep,  devoid 
of  any  appearance  of  fire,  and  of  nearly  a  yellowish  white  color 
throughout.  The  diameter  of  each  was  about  nine  diameters 
of  our  painted  circle,  or  nearly  450  feet ;  and  the  width  of  the 
rim  surrounding  them  about  1000  feet ;  yet  notwithstanding 
their  narrow  mouths,  these  two  chimneys  of  the  subterranean 
deep  had  evidently  filled  the  whole  area  of  the  valley  in  M-hich 
they  stood  with  the  lava  and  ashes  with  which  it  was  encum- 
bered, and  even  added  to  the  height,  if  not  indeed  caused  the 
existence  of  the  oval  ehain  of  mountains  which  surrounded  it. 
These  mountains,  as  subsequently  measured  from  the  level  of 
some  large  lakes  around  them,  averaged  the  height  of  2,800 
feet;  and  Dr.  Herschel  conjectured  from  this  and  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  their  abutments,  which  ran  for  many  miles  into  the 
country  around  them,  that  these  volcanoes  must  have  been  in 
full  activity  for  a  million  of  years.  Lieut.  Drummond,  how- 
ever, rather  supposed  that  the  whole  area  of  this  oval  valley 
was  but  the  exhausted  crater  of  one  vast  volcano,  which  in  ex- 
piring had  left  only  these  two  imbecile  representatives  of  its 
power.  I  believe  Dr.  Herschel  himself  afterwards  adopted  this 
probable  theory,  which  is  indeed  confirmed  by  the  universal 
geology  of  the  planet.  There  is  scarcely  a  hundred  miles  of 
her  surface,  not  even  excepting  her  largest  seas  and  lakes,  in 
which  circular  or  oval  mountainous  ridges  may  not  be  easily 
found ;  and  many,  very  many  of  these  having  numerous  enclosed 
hills  in  full  volcanic  operation,  which  are  now  much  lower 
than  the  surrounding  circles,  it  admits  of  no  doubt  that  each 
of  these  great  formations  is  the  remains  of  one  vast  mountain 
which  has  burnt  itself  out,  and  left  only  these  wide  foundations 
of  its  ancient  grandeur.  A  direct  proof  of  this  is  afforded  in  a 
tremendous  volcano,  now  in  its  prime,  which  I  shall  hereafter 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  31 

notice.  What  gave  the  name  of  'The  Lake  of  Death'  to  the 
annular  mountain  I  have  just  described,  was,  I  suppose,  the 
dark  appearance  of  the  valley  which  it  encloses,  and  whicli,  to 
a  more  distant  view  than  we  obtained,  certainly  exhibits  the 
general  aspect  of  the  waters  on  this  planet.  The  surrounding 
country  is  fertile  to  excess :  between  this  circle  and  No.  2 
(Endymion),  which  we  proposed  first  to  examine,  we  counted 
not  less  than  twelve  luxuriant  forests,  divided  by  open  plains, 
which  waved  in  an  ocean  of  verdure,  and  were  probably 
prairies  like  those  of  Korth  America.  In  three  of  these  we 
discovered  numerous  herds  of  quadrupeds  similar  to  our  friends 
the  bisons  in  the  Yalley  of  the  Unicorn,  but  of  much  larger 
size  ;  and  scarcely  a  piece  of  woodland  occurred  in  our  pano- 
rama which  did  not  dazzle  our  vision  with  flocks  of  white  or 
red  birds  upon  the  wing. 

"  At  length  we  carefully  explored  the  Endymion.  We  found 
each  of  the  three  ovals  volcanic  and  sterile  within  ;  but,  without, 
most  rich,  throughout  the  level  regions  around  them,  in  every 
imaginable  production  of  a  bounteous  soil.  Dr.  Herschel  has 
classified  not  less  than  thirty-eight  species  of  forest  trees,  and 
nearly  twice  this  number  of  plants,  found  in  this  tract  alone, 
which  are  widely  different  to  those  found  in  more  equatorial 
latitudes.  Of  animals,  he  classified  nine  species  of  mammalia, 
and  five  of  ovipara.  Among  the  former  is  a  small  kind  of 
rein-deer,  the  elk,  the  moose,  the  horned  bear,  and  the  biped 
beaver.  The  last  resembles  the  beaver  of  the  earth  in  every 
other  respect  than  in  its  destitution  of  a  tail,  and  its  invariable 
habit  of  walking  upon  only  two  feet.  It  carries  its  young  in  its 
arms  like  a  human  being,  and  moves  with  an  easy  gliding  mo- 
tion. Its  huts  are  constructed  better  and  higher  than  those  of 
many  tribes  of  human  savages,  and  from  the  appearance  of 
smoke  in  nearly  all  of  them,  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  being 
acquainted  with  the  use  of  fire.  Still  its  head  and  body  differ 
only  in  the  points  stated  from  that  of  the  beaver,  and  it  was 
never  seen  except  on  the  borders  of  lakes  and  rivers,  in 
which  it  has  been  observed  to  immerse  for  a  period  of  several 
seconds. 

"  Thirty  ^degrees  farther  south,  in  No.  11,  or  Cleomedes,  an 


32  GREAT  LUNAR 

immense  annular  mountain,  containing  three  distinct  craters, 
which  have  been  so  long  extinguished  that  the  whole  valley 
around  them,  which  is  eleven  miles  in  extent,  is  densely 
crowded  with  woods  nearly  to  the  summits  of  the  hills.  Not  a 
rod  of  vacant  land,  except  the  tops  of  these  craters,  could  be 
descried,  and  no  living  creature,  except  a  large  white  bird  re- 
sembling the  stork.  At  the  southern  extremity  of  this  valley  is 
a  natural  archway  or  cavern,  200  feet  high,  and  100  wide, 
through  which  runs  a  river  which  discharges  itself  over  a  pre- 
cipice of  grey  rock  80  feet  in  depth,  and  then  forms  a  branch- 
ing stream  through  a  beautiful  campaign  district  for  many 
miles.  Within  twenty  miles  of  this  cataract  is  the  largest  lake, 
or  rather  inland  sea,  that  has  been  found  throughout  the  seven 
and  a  half  millions  of  sqnare  miles  which  this  illuminated  side 
of  the  moon  contains.  Its  width,  from  east  to  west,  is  198 
miles,  and  from  north  to  sonth,  266  miles.  Its  shape,  to  the 
northward,  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  bay  of  Bengal,  and  it  is 
studded  with  small  islands,  most  of  which  are  volcanic.  Two 
of  these,  on  the  eastern  side,  are  now  violently  eruptive;  but 
our  lowest  magnifying  power  was  too  great  to  examine  them 
with  convenience,  on  account  of  the  cloud  of  smoke  and  ashes 
which  beclouded  our  field  of  view :  as  seen  by  Lieut.  Drum- 
mond,  through  our  reflecting  telescope  of  2,000  times,  they  ex- 
hibited great  brilliancy.  In  a  bay,  on  the  western  side  of  this 
sea,  is  an  island  55  miles  long,  of  a  crescent  form,  crowded 
through  its  entire  sweep  with  the  most  superb  and  wonderful 
natural  beauties,  both  of  vegetation  and  geology.  Its  hills  are 
pinnacled  with  tall  quartz  crystals,  of  so  rich  a  yellow  and 
orange  hue  that  we  at  first  supposed  them  to  be  pointed  flames 
of  fire;  and  they  spring  up  thus  from  smooth  round  brows  of 
hills  which  are  covered  as  with  a  velvet  mantle.  Even  in  the 
enchanting  little  valleys  of  this  winding  island  we  could  often 
see  these  splendid  natural  spires,  mounting  in  the  midst  of  deep 
green  woods,  like  church  steeples  in  the  vales  of  Westmoreland. 
We  here  first  noticed  the  lunar  palm-tree,  which  differs  from 
that  of  our  tropical  latitudes  only  in  the  peculiarity  of  very 
large  crimson  flowers,  instead  of  the  spadix  protruded  from  the 
common  calyx.     We,  however,  perceived  no  fruit  on  any  speci- 


ASTEONOMICAIi   DISCOVEEIES.  33 

mens  we  saw  :  a  circumstance  wliicli  we  attempted  to  account 
for  from  the  great  (theoretical)  extremes  in  the  lunar  climate. 
On  a  curious  kind  of  tree-melon  we  nevertheless  saw  fruit  in 
great  abundance,  and  in  every  stage  of  inception  and  maturity. 
The  general  color  of  these  woods  was  a  dark  green,  though  not 
without  occasional  admixtures  of  everj  tint  of  our  forest  sea- 
sons. The  hectic  flush  of  autumn  was  often  seen  kindled  upon 
the  cheek  of  earliest  spring ;  and  the  gay  drapery  of  summer 
in  some  places  surrounded  trees  leafless  as  the  victims  of  winter. 
It  seemed  as  if  all  the  seasons  here  united  hands  in  a  circle  of 
perpetual  harmon3^  Of  animals  we  saw  only  an  elegant  striped 
quadruped  about  three  feet  high,  like  a  miniature  zebra  ;  which 
was  always  in  small  herds  on  the  green  sward  of  the  hills  ;  and 
two  or  three  kinds  of  long-tailed  birds,  which  we  judged  to  be 
golden  and  blue  pheasants.  On  the  shores,  however,  we  saw 
countless  multitudes  of  univalve  shell-fish,  and  among  them 
some  huge  flat  ones,  which  all  three  of  my  associates  declared  to 
be  cornu  ammonas  ;  and  I  confess  I  was  here  compelled  to 
abandon  my  sceptical  substitution  of  pebbles.  The  clifi's  all 
along  these  shores  were  deeply  undermined  by  tides  ;  they  were 
very  cavernous,  and  yellow  crystal  stalactites  larger  than  a  man's 
thigh  were  shooting  forth  on  all  sides.  Indeed  every  rood  of 
this  island  appeared  to  be  crystallized  ;  masses  of  fallen  crystals 
were  found  on  every  beach  we  explored,  and  beamed  from 
every  fractured  headland.  It  was  more  like  a  creation  of  an 
oriental  fancy  than  a  distant  variety  of  nature  brought  by  the 
powers  of  science  to  ocular  demonstration.  The  striking  dis- 
similitude of  this  island  to  every  other  we  had  found  on  these 
waters,  and  its  near  proximity  to  the  main  land,  led  us  to  sup- 
pose that  it  must  at  some  time  have  been  a  part  of  it;  more  espe- 
cially as  its  crescent  bay  embraced  the  first  of  a  chain  of  smaller 
ones  which  ran  directly  thither.  The  first  one  was  a  pure 
quartz  rock,  about  three  miles  in  circumference,  towering  in 
naked  majesty  from  the  blue  deep,  without  either  shore  or 
shelter.  Eut  it  glowed  in  the  sun  almost  like  a  sapphire,  as 
did  all  the  lesser  ones  of  whom  it  seemed  the  king.  Our 
theory  was  speedily  confirmed  ;  for  all  the  shore  of  the  main 
land  was  battlemented  and   spired  with  these  unobtainable 

3 


34  GREAT    LU]SrAR 

jewels  of  nature  ;  and  as  we  brought  our  field  of  view  to  include 
the  utmost  rim  of  the  illuminated  boundary  of  the  planet,  we 
could  still  see  them  blazing  in  crowded  battalions  as  it  were, 
through  a  region  of  hundreds  of  miles.  In  fact  we  could  not 
conjecture  where  this  gorgeous  land  of  enchantment  terminated; 
for  as  the  rotarj  motion  of  the  planet  bore  these  mountain  sum- 
mits from  our  view,  we  became  further  remote  from  their 
western  boundary. 

"  We  were  admonished  by  this  to  lose  no  time  in  seeking  the 
next  proposed  object  of  our  search,  the  Langrenus,  or  No.  26, 
which  is  almost  within  the  verge  of  the  libration  in  longitude, 
and  of  which,  for  this  reason.  Dr.  Herschel  entertained  some 
singular  expectations. 

"  After  a  short  delay  in  advancing  the  observatory  upon  the 
levers,  and  in  regulating  the  lens,  we  found  our  object  and 
surveyed  it.  It  was  a  dark  narrow  lake  seventy  miles  long, 
bounded,  on  the  east,  north,  and  west,  by  red  mountains  of  the 
same  character  as  those  surrounding  the  Yalley  of  the  Unicorn, 
from  which  it  is  distant  to  the  south-west  about  160  miles. 
This  lake,  like  that  valley,  opens  to  the  south  upon  a  plain  not 
more  than  ten  miles  wide,  which  is  here  encircled  by  a  truly 
magnificent  amphitheatre  of  the  loftiest  order  of  lunar  hills. 
For  a  semicircle  of  six  miles  these  hills  are  riven,  from  their 
brow  to  their  base,  as  perpendicularly  as  the  outer  walls  of  the 
Colosseum  at  Rome  ;  but  here  exhibiting  the  sublime  altitude  of 
at  least  two  thousand  feet,  in  one  smooth  unbroken  surface. 
How  nature  disposed  of  the  huge  mass  which  she  thus  prodi- 
gally carved  out,  I  know  not ;  but  certain  it  is  that  there  are  no 
fragments  of  it  left  upon  the  plain,  which  is  a  declivity  with- 
out a  single  prominence  except  a  billow}^  tract  of  woodland  that 
runs  in  many  a  wild  vagary  of  breadth  and  course  to  the 
margin  of  the  lake.  The  tremendous  height  and  expansion  of 
this  perpendicular  mountain,  with  its  bright  crimson  front  con- 
trasted with  the  fringe  of  forest  on  its  brow,  and  the  verdure  of 
the  open  plain  beneath,  filled  our  canvass  with  a  landscape  un- 
surpassed in  unique  grandeur  by  any  we  had  beheld.  Our 
twenty-five  miles  perspective  included  this  remarkable  moun- 
tain, the  plain,  a  part  of  the  lake,  and  the  last  graduated  sum- 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  35 

mits  of  tlie  range  of  hills  by  whicli  the  latter  is  nearly  sur- 
rounded, "We  ardently  wished  that  all  the  world  could  view  a 
scene  so  strangely  grand,  and  our  pulse  beat  high  with  the  hope 
of  one  day  exhibiting  it  to  our  countrymen  in  some  part  of  our 
native  land.  But  we  were  at  length  compelled  to  destroy  our 
picture,  as  a  whole,  for  the  purpose  of  magnifying  its  parts  for 
scientijB.c  inspection.  Our  plain  was  of  course  immediately 
covered  with  the  ruby  front  of  this  mighty  amphitheatre,  its  tall 
figures,  leaping  cascades,  and  rugged  caverns.  As  its  almost 
interminable  sweep  was  measured  off  upon  the  canvass,  we 
frequently  saw  long  lines  of  some  yellow  metal  hanging  from 
the  crevices  of  the  horizontal  strata  in  wild  net-work,  or 
straight  pendant  branches,  We  of  course  concluded  that  this 
was  virgin  gold,  and  we  had  no  assay-master  to  'prove  to  the 
contrary.  On  searching  the  plain,  over  which  we  had  observed 
the  woods  roving  in  all  the  shapes  of  clouds  in  the  sky,  we  were 
again  delighted  with  the  discovery  of  animals.  The  first 
observed  was  a  quadruped  with  an  amazingly  long  neck,  head 
like  a  sheep,  bearing  two  long  spiral  horns,  white  as  polished 
ivory,  and  standing  in  perpendicular  parallel  to  each  other. 
Its  body  was  like  that  of  the  deer,  but  its  fore-legs  were  most 
disproportionally  long,  and  its  tail,  which  was  very  bushy  and 
of  a  snowy  whiteness,  curled  high  over  its  rump,  and  hung  two 
or  three  feet  by  its  side.  Its  colors  were  bright  bay  and  white 
in  brindled  patches,  clearly  defined,  but  of  no  regular  form.  It 
was  found  only  in  pairs,  in  spaces  between  the  woods,  and  we 
had  no  opportunity  of  witnessing  its  speed  or  habits.  But  a 
few  minutes  only  elapsed  before  three  specimens  of  another 
animal  appeared,  so  well  known  to  us  all  that  we  fairly  laughed 
at  the  recognition  of  so  familiar  an  acquaintance  in  so  distant  a 
land.  They  were  neither  more  nor  less  than  three  good  large 
sheep,  which  would  not  have  disgraced  the  farms  of  Leicester- 
shire, or  the  shambles  of  Leadenhall-market.  With  the  utmost 
scrutiny,  we  could  find  no  mark  of  distinction  between  these 
and  those  of  our  native  soil ;  they  had  not  even  the  appendao-e 
over  the  eyes,  which  I  have  described  as  common  to  lunar  qua- 
drupeds. Presently  they  appeared  in  great  numbers,  and  on 
reducing  the  lenses,  we  found  them  in  flocks  over  a  great  part 


36  GREAT   LUNAR 

of  the  valley.  I  need  not  say  liow  desirous  we  were  of  finding 
shepherds  to  these  flocks,  and  even  a  man  with  blue  apron  and 
rolled  np  sleeves  would  have  been  a  welcome  sight  to  us,  if  not 
to  the  sheep  ;  but  they  fed  in  peace,  lords  of  their  own  pastures, 
without  either  protector  or  destroyer  in  human  shape. 

"  We  at  length  approached  the  level  opening  to  the  lake, 
where  the  valley  narrows  to  a  mile  in  width,  and  displays 
scenery  on  both  sides  picturesque  and  romantic  beyond  the 
powers  of  a  prose  description.  Imagination,  borne  on  the  wings 
of  poetry,  could  alone  gather  similes  to  portray  the  wild  sub- 
limity of  this  landscape,  where  dark  behemoth  crags  stood  over 
the  brows  of  lofty  precipices,  as  if  a  rampart  in  the  sky  ;  and 
forests  seemed  suspended  in  mid  air.  On  the  eastern  side  there 
was  one  soaring  crag,  crested  with  trees,  which  hung  over  in  a 
curve  like  three-fourths  of  a  Gothic  arch,  and  being  of  a  rich 
crimson  color,  its  effect  was  most  strange  upon  minds  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  association  of  such  grandeur  with  such  beauty. 

"  But  whilst  gazing  upon  them  in  a  perspective  of  about  half 
a  mile,  we  were  thrilled  with  astonishment  to  perceive  four  suc- 
cessive flocks  of  large  winged  creatures,  wholly  unlike  any  kind 
of  birds,  descend  with  a  slow  even  motion  from  the  cliffs  on  the 
western  side,  and  alight  upon  the  plain.  They  were  first 
noticed  by  Dr.  Herschel,  who  exclaimed,  '  N"ow,  gentlemen, 
my  theories  against  your  proofs,  which  you  have  often  found  a 
pretty  even  bet,  we  have  here  something  worth  looking  at :  I 
was  confident  that  if  ever  we  found  beings  in  human  shape,  it 
would  be  in  this  longitude,  and  that  they  would  be  provided 
by  their  Creator  with  some  extraordinary  powers  of  locomotion: 
first  exchange  for  my  number  D.'  This  lens  being  soon  intro- 
duced, gave  us  a  fine  half-mile  distance,  and  we  counted  three 
parties  of  these  creatures,  of  twelve,  nine,  and  fifteen  in  each, 
walking  erect  towards  a  small  wood  near  the  base  of  the 
eastern  precipices.  Certainly  they  were  like  human  beings,  for 
their  wings  had  now  disappeared,  and  their  attitude  in  walking 
was  both  erect  and  dignified.  Having  observed  them  at  this 
distance  for  some  minutes,  we  introduced  lens  H  b  which 
brought  them  to  the  apparent  proximity  of  eighty  yards ;  the 
highest  clear  magnitude  we  possessed  until  the  latter  end  of 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  37 

Marcli,  when  we  effected  an  improvement  in  the  gas-bnrners. 
About  half  of  the  first  party  had  passed  beyond  our  canvass ; 
but  of  all  the  others  we  had  a  perfectly  distinct  and  deliberate 
view.  They  averaged  four  feet  in  height,  were  covered,  except 
on  the  face,  with  short  and  glossy  copper-colored  hair,  and  had 
wings  composed  of  a  thin  membrane,  without  hair,  lying  snugly 
upon  their  backs,  from  the  top  of  the  shoulders  to  the  calves  of 
the  legs.  The  face,  which  was  of  a  yellowish  flesh  color,  was  a 
slight  improvement  npon  that  of  the  large  orang  outang,  being 
more  open  and  intelligent  in  its  expression,  and  having  a  much 
greater  expansion  of  forehead.  The  mouth,  however,  was  very  ~^ 
prominent,  though  somewhat  relieved  by  a  thick  beard  upon 
the  lower  jaw,  and  by  lips  far  more  human  than  those  of  any 
species  of  the  simia  genus.  In  general  symmetry  of  body  and 
limbs  they  were  infinitely  superior  to  the  orang  outang ;  so 
much  so,  that,  but  for  their  long  wings,  Lieut.  Drummond  said 
they  would  look  as  well  on  a  parade  ground  as  some  of  the 
old  cockney  militia  !  The  hair  on  the  head  was  a  darker  color 
than  that  of  the  body,  closely  curled,  but  apparently  not  woolly, 
and  arranged  in  two  curious  semicircles  over  the  temples  of  the 
forehead.  Their  feet  could  only  be  seen  as  they  were  alternately 
lifted  in  walking ;  but,  from  what  we  could  see  of  them  in  so 
transient  a  view,  they  appeared  thin,  and  very  protuberant  at 
the  heel. 

"  Whilst  passing  across  the  canvass,  and  whenever  we  after- 
wards saw  them,  these  creatures  were  evidently  engaged  in  con- 
versation ;  their  gesticulation,  more  particularly  the  varied 
action  of  their  hands  and  arms,  appeared  impassioned  and  em- 
phatic. We  hence  inferred  that  they  were  rational  beings,  and 
although  not  perhaps  of  so  high  an  order  as  others  which  we 
discovered  the  next  month  on  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Rain- 
bows, that  they  were  capable  of  producing  works  of  art  and 
contrivance.  The  next  view  we  obtained  of  them  was  still 
more  favorable.  It  was  on  the  borders  of  a  little  lake,  or 
expanded  stream,  which  we  then  for  the  first  time  perceived 
running  down  the  valley  to  a  large  lake,  and  having  on  its 
eastern  margin  a  small  wood. 

"  Some  of  these  creatures  had  crossed  this  water  and  were 


38  GREAT  LUKAE 

lying  like  spread  eagles  on  the  skirts  of  the  wood.  We  could 
then  perceive  that  they  possessed  wings  of  great  expansion,  and 
were  similar  in  structure  to  those  of  the  bat,  being  a  semi^rans- 
parent  membrane  expanded  in  curvilineal  divisions  by  means 
of  straight  radii,  united  at  the  back  by  the  dorsal  integuments. 
But  what  astonished  ns  very  much  was  the  circumstance  of  this 
membrane  being  continued,  from  the  shoulders  to  the  legs, 
united  all  the  way  down,  though  gradually  decreasing  in  width. 
The  wings  seemed  completely  under  the  command  of  volition, 
for  those  of  the  creatures  whom  we  saw  bathing  in  the  water, 
spread  them  instantly  to  their  full  width,  waved  them  as  ducks 
do  theirs  to  shake  off  the  water,  and  then  as  instantly  closed 
them  again  in  a  compact  form.  Our  further  observation  of  the 
habits  of  these  creatures,  who  were  of  both  sexes,  led  to  results 
so  very  remarkable,  that  I  prefer  they  should  first  be  laid  before 
the  public  in  Dr.  Herschel's  own  work,  where  I  have  reason  to 
know  they  are  fully  and  faithfully  stated,  however  incredulously 
they  may  be  received. —  *****  The  three  families  then 
almost  simultaneously  spread  their  wings,  and  were  lost  in  the 
dark  confines  of  the  canvass  before  we  had  time  to  breathe  from 
our  paralyzing  astonishment.  We  scientifically  denominated 
them  the  Yespertilio-homo,  or  man-bat ;  and  they  are  doubtless 
innocent  and  happy  creatures,  notwithstanding  that  some  of 
their  amusements  would  but  ill  comport  with  our  terrestrial  no- 
tions of  decorum.  The  valley  itself  we  called  the  Euby  Colos- 
seum, in  compliment  to  its  stupendous  southern  boundary,  the 
six  mile  sweep  of  precipices  two  thousand  feet  high.  And  the 
night,  or  rather  morning,  being  far  advanced,  we  postj)oned  our 
tour  to  Petavius  (No.  20),  until  another  opportunity."  We 
have,  of  course,  faithfully  obeyed  Dr.  Grant^s  private  injunction 
to  omit  those  highly  curious  passages  in  his  correspondence 
which  he  wished  us  to  suppress,  although  we  do  not  perceive 
the  force  of  the  reason  assigned  for  it.  It  is  true,  the  omitted 
paragraphs  contain  facts  which  would  be  wholly  incredible  to 
readers  who  do  not  carefully  examine  the  principles  and 
capacity  of  the  instrument  with  which  these  marvellous  dis- 
coveries have  been  made  ;  but  so  will  nearly  all  of  those  which 
he   has   kindly  permitted  us  to  publish ;  and  it  was  for  this 


ASTRONOMICAI.  DISCOVERIES.  39 

reason  that  we  considered  the  explicit  description  which  we 
have  given  of  the  telescope  so  important  a  preliminary.  From 
these,  however,  and  other  prohibited  passages,  which  will  be 
pnblished  b  v  Dr.  Herscliel,  with  the  certificates  of  the  civil  and 
military  autliorities  of  the  colony,  and  of  several  Episcopal. 
"Wesleyan,  and  other  ministers,  who,  in  the  month  of  March. 
last,  were  permitted,  nnder  stipulation  of  temporary  secrecy,  to 
visit  the  observatory,  and  become  eye-witnesses  of  the  wonders 
which  they  were  requested  to  attest,  we  are  confident  his  forth- 
coming volumes  will  be  at  once  the  most  sublime  in  science, 
and  the  most  intense  in  general  interest,  thiat  ever  issued  from 
the  press. 

The  night  of  the  14:tli  displayed  the  moon  in  her  mean  libra- 
tion,  or  full ;  but  the  somewhat  humid  state  of  the  atmosphere 
being  for  several  hours  less  favorable  to  a  minute  inspection 
than  to  a  general  survey  of  her  surface,  they  were  chiefly 
devoted  to  the  latter  purpose.  But  shortly  after  midnight  the 
last  veil  of  mist  was  dissipated,  and  the  sky  being  as  lucid  as 
on  the  former  evenings,  the  attention  of  the  astronomers  was 
arrested  by  the  remarkable  outlines  of  the  spot  marked  Tycho, 
'No.  18,  in  Blunt's  lunar  chart ;  and  in  this  region  they  added 
treasures  to  human  knowledge  which  angels  might  well  desire 
to  win.  Many  parts  of  the  following  extract  will  remain  forever 
in  the  chronicles  of  time : — 

"  The  surface  of  the  moon,  when  viewed  in  her  mean  libra- 
tion,  even  with  telescopes  of  very  limited  power,  exhibits  three 
oceans  of  vast  breadth  and  circumference,  independently  of 
seven  large  collections  of  water,  which  may  be  denominated 
seas.  Of  inferior  waters,  discoverable  by  the  higher  classes  of 
instruments,  and  usually  called  lakes,  the  number  is  so  great 
that  no  attempt  has  yet  been  made  to  count  them.  Indeed, 
such  a  task  would  be  almost  equal  to  that  of  enumerating  the 
annular  mountains  which  are  f)und  upon  every  part  of  her  sur- 
face, whether  composed  of  land  or  water.  The  largest  of  the 
three  oceans  occupies  a  considerable  portion  of  the  hemisphere 
between  the  line  of  her  northern  axis  and  that  of  her  eastern 
equator,  and  even  extends  many  degrees  south  of  the  latter. 
Throughout  its  eastern  boundary,  it  so  closely  approaches  that 


40  GREAT  LUNAR 

of  the  lunar  sphere,  as  to  leave  in  manj  places  merely  a  fringe 
of  illuminated  mountains,  which  are  here,  therefore,  strongly 
contra-distinguished  from  the  dark  and  shadowy  aspect  of  the 
great  deep.  But  peninsulas,  promontories,  capes,  and  islands, 
and  a  thousand  other  terrestrial  figures,  for  which  we  can  find 
no  names  in  the  poverty  of  our  geographical  nomenclature,  are 
found  expanding,  sallying  forth,  or  glowing  in  insular  indepen- 
dence, through  all  the  'billowy  boundlessness'  of  this  magni- 
ficent ocean.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  is  a  pro- 
montory, without  a  name,  I  believe,  in  the  lunar  charts,  which 
starts  from  an  island  district  denominated  Copernicus  by  the 
old  astronomers,  and  abounding,  as  we  eventually  discovered, 
with  great  natural  curiosities.  This  promontory  is  indeed  most 
singular.  Its  northern  extremity  is  shaped  much  like  an  imperial 
crown,  having  a  swelling  bow,  divided  and  tied  dowm  in  its  cen- 
tre by  a  band  of  hills  which  is  united  with  its  forehead  band 
or  base.  The  two  open  spaces  formed  by  this  division  are  two 
lakes,  each  eighty  miles  wide  ;  and  at  the  foot  of  these,  divided 
from  them  by  the  band  of  hills  last  mentioned,  is  another  lake, 
larger  than  the  two  put  together,  and  nearly  perfectly  square. 
This  one  is  followed,  after  another  hilly  division,  by  a  lake  of 
an  irregular  form  ;  and  this  one  yet  again,  by  two  narrow  ones, 
divided  longitudinally,  which  are  attenuated  northward  to  the 
main  land.  Thus  this  skeleton  promontory  of  mountain  ridges 
runs  396  miles  into  the  ocean,  with  six  capacious  lakes,  enclosed 
within  its  stony  ribs.  Blunt's  excellent  lunar  chart  gives  this 
great  work  of  nature  with  wonderful  fidelity,  and  I  think  you. 
might  accompanj^  my  description  with  an  engraving  from  it, 
much  to  your  reader's  satisfaction.     (See  plate  4.) 

"  JSText  to  this,  the  most  remarkable  formation  in  this  ocean 
is  a  strikingly  brilliant  annular  mountain  of  immense  altitude 
and  circumference,  standing  330  miles  E.S.E.,  commonly 
known  as  Aristarchus  (No.  12),  and  marked  in  the  chart  as  a 
large  mountain,  with  a  great  cavity  in  its  centre.  That  cavity 
is  now,  as  it  was  probably  wont  to  be  in  ancient  ages,  a  vol- 
canic cr.ater,  awfully  rivalling  our  Mounts  Etna  and  Yesuvius 
in  the  most  terrible  epochs  of  their  reign.  Unfavorable  as  the 
state  of  the  atmosphere  was  to  close  examination,  we  could 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVBKIES.  41 

easily  mark  its  illumination  of  the  water  over  a  circuit  of  sixty 
miles.  If  we  had  before  retained  any  doubt  of  the  power  of 
lunar  volcanoes  to  throw  fragments  of  their  craters  so  far  beyond 
the  moon's  attraction  that  they  would  necessarily  gravitate  to 
this  earth,  and  thus  account  for  the  niultitude  of  massive  aerolites 
which  have  fallen  and  been  foiind  upon  our  surface,  the  \new 
which  we  had  of  Aristarchus  would  have  set  our  scepticism 
forever  at  rest.  This  mountain,  however,  though  standing  300 
miles  in  the  ocean,  is  not  absolutely  insular,  for  it  is  cojmected 
with  the  main  land  by  four  chains  of  mountains,  which  branch 
from  it  as  a  common  centre. 

The  next  great  ocean  is  situated  on  the  western  side  of  the 
meridian  line,  divided  nearly  in  the  midst  by  the  line  of  the 
equator,  and  is  about  900  miles  in  north  and  south  extent.  It  is 
marked  0  in  the  catalogue,  and  was  fancifully  called  the  Mare 
Tranquillitatis.  It  is  rather  two  large  seas  than  one  ocean,  for  it 
is  narrowed  just  under  the  equator  by  a  strait  not  more  than 
100  miles  wide.  Only  three  annular  islands  of  a  large  size, 
arnd  quite  detached  from  its  shores,  are  to  be  found  within  it ; 
though  several  sublime  volcanoes  exist  on  its  northern  boun- 
dary ;  one  of  the  most  stupendous  of  which  is  within  120  miles 
of  the  Mare  I^ectaris  before  mentioned.  Immediately  contigu- 
ous to  this  second  great  ocean,  and  separated  from  it  only  by  a 
concatenation  of  dislocated  continents  and  islands,  is  the  third, 
marked  D,  and  known  as  the  Mare  Serenitatis.  It  is  nearly 
square,  being  about  330  miles  in  length  and  width.  But  it  has 
one  most  extraordinary  peculiarity,  which  is  a  perfectly  straight 
ridge  of  hills,  certainly  not  more  than  five  miles  wide,  which 
starts  in  a  direct  line  from  its  southern  to  its  northern  shore, 
dividing  it  exactly  in  the  midst.  This  singular  ridge  is  per- 
fectly sui  generis,  being  altogetlier  unlike  any  mountain  chain 
either  on  this  earth  or  on  the  moon  itself.  It  is  so  very  keen, 
that  its  great  concentration  of  the  solar  light  renders  it  visible 
to  small  telescopes ;  but  its  character  is  so  strikingly  peculiar, 
that  we  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  depart  from  our  pre- 
determined adherence  to  a  general  survey,  and  examine  it  par- 
ticularly. Our  lens  G  x  brought  it  within  the  small  distance 
of  800  yards,  and  its  whole  width  of  four  or  five  miles  snugly 


42 


GREAT   LUKAE 


witliiii  that  of  our  canvass.  Nothing  that  we  had  hithferto 
seen  more  highlj  excited. our  astonishment.  Believe  it  or 
believe  it  not,  it  was  one  entire  crystallization  ! — its  edge, 
throughout  its  whole  lengtli  of  340  miles,  is  an  acute  angle  of 
solid  quartz  crystal,  brilliant  as  a  piece  of  Derbyshire  spar  just 
brought  from  a  mine,  and  containing  scarcely  a  fracture  or  a 
chasm  from  end  to  end  !  "What  a  prodigious  influence  must 
our  thirteen  times  larger  globe  have  exercised  upon  this  satel- 
lite, when  an  embryo  in  the  womb  of  time,  the  passive  subject 
of  chemical  aifinity  !  We  found  that  wonder  and  astonishment, 
as  excited  by  objects  in  this  distant  world,  were  but  modes 
and  attributes  of  ignorance,  which  should  give  place  to  elevated 
expectations,  and  to  reverential  confidence  in  the  illimitable 
power  of  the  Creator. 

"  The  dark  expanse  of  waters  to  the  south  of  the  first  great 
ocean  has  often  been  considered  a  fourth ;  but  we  found  it  to 
be  merely  a  sea  of  the  first  class,  entirely  surrounded  by  land, 
and  mucli  more  encumbered  with  promontories  and  islands 
than  it  has  been  exhibited  in  any  kmar  chart.  One  of  its  pro- 
montories runs  from  the  vicinity  of  Pitatus  (ISTo.  19),  in  a 
slightly  curved  and  very  narrow  line,  to  Bullialdus  (N"o.  22), 
which  is  merely  a  circular  head  to  it,  264  miles  from  its  start- 
ing place.  This  is  another  mountainous  ring,  a  marine  volcano, 
nearly  burnt  out,  and  slumbering  upon  its  cinders.  But 
Pitatus,  standing  upon  a  bold  cape  of  the  southern  shore,  is 
apparently  exulting  in  the  might  and  majesty  of  its  fires.  The 
atmosphere  being  now  quite  free  from  vapor,  we  introduced 
the  magnifiers  to  examine  a  large  bright  circle  of  hills  which 
sweep  close  beside  the  western  abutments  of  this  flaming 
mountain.  The  hills  were  either  of  snow-white  marble  or 
semi-transparent  crystal,  we  could  not  distinguish  which,  and 
they  bounded  another  of  those  lovely  green  valleys,  which, 
however  monotonous  in  my  descriptions,  are  of  paradisaical 
beauty  and  :fertility,  and  like  primitive  Eden  in  the  bliss  of 
their  inhabitants.  Dr.  ITerschel  here  again  predicated  another 
of  his  sagacious  theories.  He  said  the  proximity  of  the  flaming 
mountain,  Bullialdus,  must  be  so  great  a  local  convenience  to 
dwellers  in  this  valley  during  the  long  periodical  absence  of 


ASTEONOMICAL   DISCOVERIES.  43 

solar  light,  as  to  render  it  a  place  of  populous  resort  for  tlie 
inhabitants  of  all  the  adjacent  regions,  more  especially  as  its 
bulwark  of  hills  afforded  an  infallible  security  against  any 
volcanic  eruption  that  could  occur.  We  therefore  applied  our 
full  power  to  explore  it,  and  rich  indeed  was  our  reward. 

"  The  very  first  object  in  this  valley  that  appeared  upon  our 
canvass  was  a  magnificent  work  of  art.  It  was  a  temple — a 
fane  of  devotion,  or  of  science,  which,  when  consecrated  to  the 
Creator,  is  devotion  of  the  loftiest  order ;  for  it  exhibits  his 
attributes  purely  free  from  the  masquerade,  attire,  and  blasphe- 
mous caricature  of  controversial  creeds,  and  has  the  seal  and 
signature  of  his  own  hand  to  sanction  its  aspirations.  It  was 
an  equitriangular  temple,  built  of  polished  sapphire,  or  of  some 
resplendent  blue  stone,  which,  like  it.  displayed  a  myriad 
points  of  golden  light  twinkling  and  scintillating  in  the  sun- 
beams. Our  canvass,  though  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  was  too 
limited  to  receive  more  than  a  sixth  part  of  it  at  one  view,  and 
the  first  part  that  appeared  was  near  the  centre  of  one  of  its 
sides,  being  three  square  columns,  six  feet  in  diameter  at  its 
base,  and  gently  tapering  to  a  hight  of  seventy  feet.  The 
intercolumniations  were  each  twelve  feet.  We  instantly  reduced 
our  magnitude,  so  as  to  embrace  the  whole  structure  in  one 
view,  and  then  indeed  it  was  most  beautiful.  The  roof  was 
composed  of  some  yellow  metal,  and  divided  into  three  com- 
partments, which  were  not  triangular  planes  inclining  to  the 
centre,  but  subdivided,  curbed,  and  separated,  so  as  to  present 
a  mass  of  violently  agitated  flames  rising  from  a  common 
source  of  conflagration  and  terminating  in  wildly  waving 
points.  This  design  was  too  manifest,  and  too  skilfully  exe- 
cuted to  be  mistaken  for  a  single  moment.  Through  a  few 
openings  in  these  metallic  flames  we  perceived  a  large  sphere 
of  a  darker  kind  of  metal  nearly  of  a  clouded  copper  color, 
which  they  enclosed  and  seemingly  raged  around,  as  if  hiero- 
glyphically  consuming  it.  This  was  the  roof;  but  upon  each 
of  the  three  corners  there  was  a  small  sphere  of  apparently  the 
same  metal  as  the  large  centre  one,  and  these  rested  upon  a 
kind  of  cornice,  quite  new  in  any  order  of  architecture  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  but  nevertheless  exceedingly  graceful 


44  GREAT   LUNAR 

and  impressive.     It  was  like  a  half-opened  scroll,  swelling  off 
boldly  from  the  roof,  and  hanging  far  over  the  walls  in  several 
convolutions.     It  was  of  the  same  metal  as  the  flames,  and  on 
each  side  of  the  building  it  was  open  at  both  ends.      The 
columns,  six  on  each  side,  were  simply  plain  shafts,  without 
capitals  or  pedestals,  or  any  description  of  ornament ;  nor  was 
any  perceived  in  other  parts  of  the  edifice.     It  was  open  on 
each  side,  and  seemed  to  contain  neither  seats,  altars,  nor  offer- 
ings ;  but  it  was  a  light  and  airy  structure,  nearly  a  hundred 
feet  high  from  its  white  glistening  floor  to  its  glowing  roof,  and 
it  stood  upon  a  round  green  eminence  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  valley.     We  afterwards,  however,  discovered  two  others, 
which  were  in  every  respect  fac-similes  of  this  one  ;  but  in 
neither  did  we  perceive  any  visitants  besides   flocks  of  wild 
doves  which  alighted  upon  its  lustrous  pinnacles.     Had  the 
devotees  of  these  temples  gone  the  way  of  all  living,  or  were 
the  latter  merely  historical  monuments  ?     What  did  the  inge- 
nious builders  mean  by  the  globe  surrounded  by  flames?     Did 
they  by  this  record  any  past  calamity  of  their  world,  or  pre- 
dict any  future  one  of  ours  f     I  by  no  means  despair  of  ulti- 
mately solving  not  only  these  but  a  thousand  other  questions 
which  present  themselves  respecting  the  objects  in  this  planet; 
for  not  the  millionth  part  of  her  surface  has  yet  been  explored, 
and  we  have  been  more  desirous  of  collecting  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  n&w  facts,  than  of  indulging  in  speculative 
theories,  however  seductive  to  the  imagination. 

"  But  we  had  not  far  to  seek  for  inhabitants  of  this  '  Yale  of 
the  Triads.'  Immediately  on  the  outer  border  of  the  wood 
which  surrounded,  at  the  distance  of  half  a  mile,  the  eminence 
on  which  the  first  of  these  temples  stood,  we  saw  several  de- 
tached assemblies  of  beings  whom  we  instantly  recognized  to 
be  of  the  same  species  as  our  winged  friends  of  the  Euby  Colos- 
seum near  the  lake  Langrenus.  Having  adjusted  the  instru- 
ment for  a  minute  examination,  we  found  that  nearly  all  the 
individuals  in  these  groups  were  of  a  larger  stature  than  the 
former  specimens,  less  dark  in  color,  and  in  every  respect  an  im- 
proved variety  of  the  race.  They  were  chiefly  engaged  in  eat- 
ng  a  large  yellow  fruit  like  a  gourd,  sections  of  which  they 


ASTR0N05UCAL    DISCOVERIES.  45 

divided  with  tlieir  fingers,  and  ate  with  rather  uncoiitli  voracity, 
throwing  away  the  rind.  A  smaller  red  fruit,  shaped  like  a 
encumber,  which  we  had  often  seen  pendant  from  trees  having 
a  broad  dark  leaf,  was  also  lying  in  heaps  in  the  centre  of 
several  of  the  festive  groups  ;  but  the  only  use  they  appeared 
to  make  of  it  was  sncking  its  juice,  after  rolling  it  between  the 
palms  of  their  hands  and  nibbling  off  an  end.  They  seemed 
eminently  happy,  and  even  polite,  for  we  saw,  in  many  in- 
stances, individuals  sitting  nearest  these  piles  of  fruit,  select  the 
largest  and  brightest  specimens,  and  throw  them  archwise 
across  the  circle  to  some  opposite  friend  or  associate  who  had 
extracted  the  nutriment  from  those  scattered  around  him,  and 
which  were  frequently  not  a  few.  "While  thus  engaged  in  their 
rural  banquets,  or  in  social  converse,  they  were  always  seated 
with  their  knees  flat  upon  the  turf,  and  their  feet  brought 
evenly  together  in  the  form  of  a  triangle.  And  for  some  mys- 
terious reason  or  other  this  figure  seemed  to  be  an  especial 
favorite  among  them ;  for  we  found  that  every  group  or  social 
circle  arranged  itself  in  this  shape  before  it  dispersed,  which 
was  generally  done  at  the  signal  of  an  individual  who  stepped 
into  the  centre  and  brought  his  hands  over  his  head  in  an  acute 
angle.  At  this  signal  each  member  of  the  company  extended 
his  arms  forward  so  as  to  form  an  acute  horizontal  angle  with 
the  extremity  of  the  fingers.  But  this  was  not  the  only  proof 
we  had  that  they  were  creatures  of  order  and  subordination. 
*  *  ^  ^'  We  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  them  actually  en- 
gaged in  any  work  of  industry  or  art ;  and  so  far  as  we  conld 
judge,  they  spent  their  happy  hours  in  collecting  various 
fruits  in  the  woods,  in  eating,  flying,  bathing,  and  loitering 
about  upon  the  summits  of  precipices.  *  *  *  *  But  although 
evidently  the  highest  order  of  animals  in  this  rich  valley,  they 
were  not  its  only  occupants.  Most  of  the  other  animals  which 
we  had  discovered  elsewhere,  in  very  distant  regions,  were  col- 
lected here ;  and  also  at  least  eight  or  nine  new  species  of 
quadrupeds.  The  most  attractive  of  these  was  a  tall  white  stag 
with  lofty  spreading  antlers,  black  as  ebony.  We  several  times 
saw  this  elegant  creature  trot  up  to  the  seated  parties  of  the 
semi-human  beings  I  have  described,  and  browse  the  herbage 


46  GREAT   LUNAR 

close  beside  tliem,  without  the  least  manifestation  of  fear  on  its 
part  or  notice  on  theirs.  The  universal  state  of  amity  among 
all  classes  of  lunar  creatures,  and  the  apparent  absence  of  e very- 
carnivorous  or  ferocious  species,  gave  us  the  most  refined  plea- 
sure, and  doubly  endeared  to  us  this  lovely  nocturnal  companion 
of  our  larger,  but  less  favored  world.  Ever  again  when  I '  eye 
the  blue  vault  and  bless  the  useful  light,'  shall  I  recall  the  scenes 
of  beauty,  grandeur,  and  felicity,  I  have  beheld  upon  her  sur- 
face, not  '  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  face  to  face ;'  and 
never  shall  I  think  of  that  line  of  our  thrice  noble  poet, 

'  Meek  Diana's  cresb 


Sails  through  the  azure  air,  an  island  of  the  blest,' 

without  exulting  in  my  knowledge  of  its  truth," 

With  the  careful  inspection  of  this  instructive  valley,  and  a 
scientific  classification  of  its  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral 
productions,  the  astronomers  closed  their  labors  for  the  night ; 
labors  rather  mental  than  physical,  and  oppressive,  from  the 
extreme  excitement  which  they  naturally  induced,  A  singular 
circumstance  occurred  the  next  day,  which  threw  the  telescope 
quite  out  of  use  for  nearly  a  week,  by  which  time  the  moon 
could  be  no  longer  observed  that  month.  The  great  lens,  which 
was  usually  lowered  during  the  day,  and  placed  horizontally, 
hadj  it  is  true,  been  lowered  as  usual,  but  had  been  inconsider- 
ately left  in  a  perpendicular  position.  Accordingly,  shortly 
after  sunrise  the  next  morning,  Dr.  Herschel  and  his  assistants. 
Dr.  Grant  and  Messrs.  Drummond  and  Home,  who  slept  in  a 
bungalow  erected  a  short  distance  from  the  observatory  circle, 
were  awakened  by  the  loud  shouts  of  some  Dutch  farmers  and 
domesticated  Hottentots  (who  were  passing  with  their  oxen  to 
agricultural  labor),  that  the  "big  house"  was  on  fire!  Dr. 
Herschel  leaped  out  of  bed  from  his  brief  slumbers,  and,  sure 
enough,  saw  his  observatory  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  smoke. 

Luckily  it  had  been  thickly  covered,  within  and  without, 
with  a  coat  of  Roman  plaster,  or  it  would  inevitably  have  been 
destroyed  with  all  its  invaluable  contents;  but,  as  it  was,  a 
hole  fifteen  feet  in  circumference  had  been  bui*nt  completely 
through  the  "  reflecting  chamber,"  which  was  attached  to  the 


ASTRONOMICAL  DISCOVERIES.  47 

side  of  the  observatory  nearest  the  lens,  through  the  canvass 
field  on  which  had  been  exhibited  so  many  wonders  that  will 
ever  live  in  the  history  of  mankind,  and  through  the  outer  wall. 
So  fierce  was  the  concentration  of  the  solar  rays  through  the 
gigantic  lens,  that  a  clump  of  trees  standing  in  a  line  with,  them 
was  set  on  fire,  and  the  plaster  of  the  observatory  walls,  all 
round  the  orifice,  was  vitrified  to  blue  glass.  The  lens  being 
almost  immediately  turned,  and  a  brook  of  water  being  within 
a  few  hundred  yards,  the  fire  was  soon  extinguished,  but  the 
damage  already  done  was  not  inconsiderable.  The  microscope 
lenses  had  fortunately  been  removed  for  the  purpose  of  being 
cleaned,  but  several  of  the  metallic  reflectors  were  so  fused  as 
to  be  rendered  useless.  Masons  and  carpenters  were  procured 
from  Cape  Town  with  all  possible  dispatch,  and  in  about  a  week 
the  whole  apparatus  was  again  prepared  for  operation. 

The  moon  being  now  invisible  Dr.  Herschel  directed  his 
inquiries  to  the  primary  planets  of  the  system,  aud  first  to  the 
planet  Saturn.  We  need  not  say  that  this  remarkable  globe 
has  for  many  ages  been  an  object  of  the  most  ardent  astronomi- 
cal curiosity.  The  stupendous  phenomenon  of  its  double  ring 
having  baified  the  scrutiny  and  conjecture  of  many  generations 
of  astronomers,  was  finally  abandoned  as  inexplicable.  It  is 
well  known  that  this  planet  is  stationed  in  the  system  900  mil- 
lions of  miles  distant  from  the  sun,  and  that  having  the  immense 
diameter  of  TO, 000  miles,  it  is  more  than  nine  hundred  times 
larger  than  the  earth.  Its  annual  motion  round  the  sun  is  not 
accomphshed  in  less  than  twenty-nine  and  a  half  of  our  years, 
whilst  its  diurnal  rotation  upon  its  axis  is  accomplished  in  lOh. 
16m.,  or  considerably  less  than  half  a  terrestrial  day.  It  has 
not  less  than  seven  moons,  the  sixth  and  the  seventh  of  which 
were  discovered  by  the  elder  Herschel  in  1Y89.  It  is  thwarted 
by  mysterious  belts  or  bands  of  a  yellowish  tinge,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  double  ring — the  outer  one  of  which  is  204,000 
miles  in  diameter.  The  outside  diameter  of  the  inner  ring  is 
184,000  miles,  and  the  breadth  of  the  outer  one  being  7,200 
miles,  the  space  between  them  is  28,000  miles.  The  breadth 
of  the  inner  ring  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  other,  being 
20,000  miles  ;  and  its  distance  from  the  body  of  Saturn  is  more 


48  GREAT   LUNAK 

than  30,000.  These  rings  are  opaque,  but  so  thin  that  their 
edge  has  not  until  now  been  discovered.  Sir  John  Herschel's 
most  interesting  discovery  with  regard  to  this  planet  is  the  de- 
monstrated fact  that  these  two  rings  are  composed  of  the  frag- 
ments of  two  destroyed  worlds,  formerly  belonging  to  our  solar 
system,  and  which,  on  being  exploded,  were  gathered  around  the 
immense  body  of  Saturn  by  the  attraction  of  gravity,  and  yet 
kept  from  falling  to  its  surface  by  the  great  centrifugal  force 
created  by  its  extraordinary  rapidity  on  its  axis.  The  inner 
ring  was  therefore  the  first  of  these  destroyed  worlds  (the  for- 
mer station  of  which  in  the  system  is  demonstrated  in  the  argu- 
ment which  we  subjoin),  which  was  accordingly  carried  round 
by  the  rotary  force,  and  spread  forth  in  the  manner  we  see. 
The  outer  ring  is  another  world  exploded  in  fragments,  attracted 
by  the  law  of  gravity  as  in  the  former  case,  and  kept  from 
uniting  with  the  inner  ring  by  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  lat- 
ter. But  the  latter,  having  a  slower  rotation  than  the  planet, 
has  an  inferior  centrifugal  force,  and  accordingly  the  space  be- 
tween the  outer  and  inner  ring  is  nearly  ten  times  less  than  that 
between  the  inner  ring  and  the  body  of  Saturn.  Having  ascer- 
tained the  mean  density  of  the  rings,  as  compared  with  the 
density  of  the  planet.  Sir  John  Herschel  has  been  enabled  to 
elFect  the  following  beautiful  demonstration,  [Which  we  omit, 
as  too  mathematical  for  popular  comprehension. — Ed.  Sun?\ 

Dr.  Herschel  clearly  ascertained  that  these  rings  are  com- 
posed of  rocky  strata,  the  skeletons  of  former  globes,  lying  in  a 
state  of  wild  and  ghastly  confusion,  but  not  devoid  of  mountains 
and  seas.  ^"  *  *  *  The  belts  across  the  body  of  Saturn  he  has 
discovered  to  be  the  smoke  of  a  number  of  immense  volcanoes, 
carried  in  these  straight  lines  by  the  extreme  velocity  of  the 
rotary  motion.  *  *  *  ^  [And  these  also  he  has  ascertained  to 
be  the  belt  of  Jupiter. — But  the  portion  of  the  work  which  is 
devoted  to  this  subject,  and  to  the  other  planets,  as  also  that 
which  describes  the  astronomer's  discoveries  among  the  stars, 
is  comparatively  uninteresting  to  general  readers,  however 
highly  it  might  interest  others  of  scientific  taste  and  mathemati- 
cal acquirements. — Ed.  Sim.'] 

*  'X-  a-  -!t  a  It  ^as  not  until  the  new  moon  of  the  month  of 


ASTRONOMICAL   DISCOVEPaES.  49 

March,  that  the  weather  proved  favorable  to  any  continued 
series  of  hmar  observations  ;  and  Dr.  Herschel  had  been  too 
enthusiastically  absorbed  in  demonstrating  his  brilliant  dis- 
coveries in  the  southern  constellations,  and  in  constructing 
tables  and  catalogues  of  his  new  stars,  to  avail  himself  of  the 
few  clear  nights  which  intervened, 

"  On  one  of  these,  however,  Mr.  Drummond,  myself,  and  Mr. 
Holmes,  made  those  discoveries  near  the  Bay  of  Rainbows,  to 
which  I  have  somewhere  briefly  alluded.  The  bay  thus  fanci- 
fully denominated  is  a  part  of  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
first  great  ocean  which  I  have  lately  described,  and  is  marked 
in  the  chart  with  the  letter  O.  The  tract  of  country  which  we 
explored  on  this  occasion  is  numbered  6,  5,  8,  Y,  in  the  cata- 
logue, and  the  chief  mountains  to  which  these  numbers  are 
attached  are  severally  named  Atlas,  Hercules,  Heraclides  Verus, 
and  Heraclides  Falsus.  Still  farther  to  the  north  of  these  is 
the  island  circle  called  Pythagoras,  and  numbered  1 ;  and  yet 
nearer  the  meridian  line  is  the  mountainous  district  marked  R, 
and  called  the  Land  of  Drought,  and  Q,  lihe  Land  of  Hoar 
Frost ;  and  certainly  the  name  of  the  latter,  however  theoreti- 
cally bestowed,  was  not  altogether  inapplicable,  for  the  tops  of 
its  very  lofty  mountains  were  evidently  covered  with  snow, 
though  the  valleys  surrounding  them  were  teeming  with  the 
luxuriant  fertility  of  midsummer.  But  the  region  which  we 
first  particularly  inspected  was  that  of  Heraclides  Falsus  (JSTo. 
7),  in  which  we  found  several  new  specimens  of  animals,  all  of 
which  were  horned  and  of  a  white  or  grey  color ;  and  the  re- 
mains of  three  ancient  triangular  temples  which  had  long  been 
in  ruins.  We  thence  traversed  the  country  southeastward, 
until  we  arrived  at  Atlas  (N"o.  6),  and  it  was  in  one  of  the  noble 
valleys  at  the  foot  of  this  mountain  that  we  found  the  very 
superior  species  of  the  Yespertilio-homo.  In  stature  they  did 
not  exceed  those  last  described,  but  they  were  of  infinitely 
greater  personal  beauty,  and  appeared  in  our  eyes  scarcely  less 
lovely  than  the  general  representations  of  angels  by  the  more 
imaginative  schools  of  painters.  Their  social  economy  seemed 
to  be  regulated  by  laws  or  ceremonies  exactly  like  those  pre- 
vailing in  the  Yale  of  the  Triads,  but  their  works  of  art  were 

4 


50  GEE  AT   LUISTAE   ASTRONOMICAL  DISCOVERIES. 

more  numerous,  and  displayed  a  proficiency  of  skill  quite  in- 
credible to  all  except  actual  observers.  I  shall,  therefore,  let 
the  first  detailed  account  of  them  appear  in  Dr.  Herschel's 
authenticated  natural  history  of  this  planet." 

[This  concludes  the  Supplement,  with  the  exception  of  forty 
pages  of  illustrative  and  mathematical  notes,  which  would 
greatly  enhance  the  size  and  price  of  this  work,  without  com- 
mensurably  adding  to  its  general  interest. — Ed  8uni\ 


A-FI>ENI3IX:. 


THE  MOON  AS  KNOWN  AT  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


"  Te  sacred  muses,  with  whose  beauty  fir'd, 
My  soul  is  ravish'd,  and  my  brain  inspir'd. 
Whose  priest  I  am,  whose  holy  fillets  wear ; 
"Would  you  your  poet's  first  petition  hear ; 
Give  me  the  ways  of  wandering  stars  to  know: 
The  depths  of  heav'n  above,  and  earth  below. 
Teach  me  the  various  labours  of  the  moon, 
And  whence  proceed  th'  eclipses  of  the  sun. 
Why  flowing  tides  prevail  upon  the  main. 
And  in  what  dark  recess  they  shrink  again. 
What  shakes  the  solid  earth,  what  cause  delays 
The  summer  nights,  and  shortens  winter  days." 

ViRaiL. 

The  picture  on  the  title-page  is  probably  tlie  best  and  minutest  view  of 
tbe  moon,  that  lias  ever  been  laid  before  the  public.  Most  of  our  readers 
are  aware  that  the  mountains  and  hollows  of  the  moon  have  been  accu- 
rately and  thoroughly  mapped  by  astronomers,  and  baptized  by  appropri- 
ate names.  For  the  benefit  of  meritorious  students  of  astronomical  geo- 
graphy, we  subjoin  the  names  of  all  those  which  have  been  christened. 
At  the  present  season  it  will  amply  repay  the  possessor  of  a  small  tele- 
scope to  identify  the  several  localities  with  the  aid  of  the  map. 

In  olden  time  the  moon  was  a  goddess.  Whatever  the  ignorant  mind 
of  the  time  was  incapable  of  grasping  was  supernatural.  Thus  arose 
the  pale,  chaste  Deity  of  the  Night,  robed  in  virgin  white,  roaming 
dreamily  under  the  partial  shade  of  trees,  loving  to  see  her  fair  image 
reflected  in  streams,  and  shedding  a  complacent  light  on  tender  meet- 
ings.    AVe  are  not  heathens — far  from  it :  but  who  among  us  has  not 


62  APPENDIX. 

at  some  time  or  other  paid  homage  to  the  Queen  of  Night*,  and  thanked 
her  for  the  gentle  light  which  has  shown  the  way  to  some  fair  hand. 

We  say,  in  blunt  scientific  terms,  that  she — or  it — is  a  satellite  of  the 
earth,  suspended  in  her — or  its — present  position  by  the  contrasted  at- 
traction of  the  sun  and  the  earth.  This  is  the  nnromantic  version  of  the 
naked  fact. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  earth  was  an  uncomfortable  semi-incan- 
descent mass,  in  the  act  of  cooling  ofi"  for  practical  purposes.  The  at- 
mosphere was  tropical  throughout  the  globe.  All  things  were  intensely 
impregnated — or,  as  the  philosophers  say,  supersaturated — with  carbon. 
Between  the  dry  land  and  the  waters  there  was  no  division.  There  was 
no  ocean,  and  consequently  no  continents.  All  was  hot  mud,  with  here 
and  there  a  lake  or  a  short  river,  and  here  and  there  a  dry,  parched, 
torrid  eminence.  In  those  days  there  were  animals  and  plants,  but  no 
human  beings.  Both  animals  and  plants  were  like  the  age  in  which 
they  flourished — to  our  notions  monstrous.  Monsters  were  the  rule, 
both  in  the  vegetable  and  the  animated  world.  Creatures  were  born, 
and  grew  to  sizes  which  dwarf  the  elephant.  Plants  thrust  their  heads 
above  the  mud,  and,  in  that  carboniferous  atmosphere,  attained  heights 

*  "As  when  the  Moon,'  refulgent  lamp  of  night! 
O'er  heav'n's  clear  azure  spreads  her  sacred  light, 
When  not  a  breath  disturbs  the  deep  serene, 
And  not  a  cloud  o'ercasts  the  solemn  scene ; 
Around  her  throne  the  vivid  planets  roll, 
And  stars  unnumber'd  gild  the  glowing  pole, 
O'er  the  dark  trees  a  yellower  verdure  shed, 
And  tip  with  silver  ev'ry  mountain's  head ; 
Then  shine  the  vales,  the  rocks  in  prospect  rise, 
A  flood  of  glory  bursts  from  all  the  skies." 

HOMEK. 

The  earth  is  accompanied  by  a  Moon  or  satellite,  whose  distance  is  237,000  miles, 
and  diameter  2,160.  Her  surface  is  composed  of  hill  and  dale,  of  rocks  and  moun- 
tains, nearly  two  miles  high,  and  of  circular  cavities,  sometimes  five  miles  in  depth 
and  forty  in  diameter.  She  possesses  neither  rivers^  nor  lakes,  nor  seas,  and  we  can- 
not discover  with  the  telescope  any  traces  of  living  beings,  or  any  monuments  of 
their  hands.  Viewing  the  earth  as  we  now  do,  as  the  ifiird  j^lanet  in  order  from  the 
sun,  can  we  doubt  that  it  is  a  globe  like  the  rest,  poised  in  ether  like  them,  and, 
like  them,  moving  round  the  central  luminary  ? 

1  As  when  the  moon,  So.  This  comparison  is  Inferior  to  none  in  Homer.  It  is  the  most  beauti- 
ful night-piece  that  can  be  found  in  poetry.  He  presents  you  with  a  prospect  of  the  heavens,  the 
seas,  and  the  earth ;  the  stars  shine,  the  air  is  serene,  the  world  enlighten'd,  and  the  moon  mounted 
in  glory. 


APPENDIX.  63 

which  Avould  have  towered  above  tlie  tallest  trees  of  our  forests.  But 
in  propo^on  to  the  rapidity  of  their  growth  was  the  brevity  of  their 
life ;  for  tb^.  o  were  the  days  of  earttiquakes  aiid  terrestrial  convulsions. 
Probabl^^^^  day  elapsed  Avithout  some,earth quake  or  volcanic  eruption. 

Thei^g^'b  of  day  was  dull  and  obscured.  Masses  of  opaque  matter 
f],ii)t,«.-,  flnnngh  the  atmosphere  as  thickly  as  dust  specks  float  through  a 
:p,-ht  in  a  darkened  room.*  The  hot  air,  thick  and  dull,  hung 
H  ijMit^Huist  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  which  was  even  then  almost 
without  form  and  void.  When  the  sun  went  down,  dense  darkness 
covered  the  earth.  There  was  no  lesser  light  to  rale  the  night ;  dim 
twinklings  in  the  far  distance,  hardly  piercing  the  pall  which  wrapped 
our  planet,  were  the  only  contrasts  to  the  Egyptian  blackness  of  the 
dark  hours. 

But  the  internal  fires  which  sprung  from  the  vitals  of  the  earth  almost 
supplied  the  want  of  a  nocturnal  luminary.  It  is  probable  that  there 
were  but  few  spots  on  the  globe  which  were  out  of  view  of  some  flaming- 
volcano.  We  count  the  active  volcanoes  by  integers.  When  we  have 
enumerated  Etna,  Vesuvius,  Hecla,  Jorullo,  Colima,  and  one  or  two 
others,  we  have  reached  the  end  of  our  list.  In  the  days  of  Homer  the 
volcanoes  were  counted  by  scores ;  in  the  carboniferous  age  they  may 
have,  must  have,  flourished  by  hundreds  and  thousands.  That  vast  in- 
candescent mass,  of  which  the  crust  only  had  cooled,  kept  boiling  up 
every  few  hours,  and  furiously  pouring  out  the  vials  of  its  wrath  upon  an 
earth  inhabited  by  transitory  creatures.  Go  where  the  traveller  may,  he 
will  still  find  traces  of  this  terrible  age.  That  tell-tale  rock — "  the  trap" 
— is  pecuhar  to  no  meridian ;  and  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories 
nearly  to  Cape  Magellan,  from  Spitzbergen  to  Borneo,  either  this,  or 
some  mountain  range  of  volcanic  origin,  here  with  scoriae  disseminated 
through  the  more  regular  formations,  there  with  copper  or  gold  held  in 
a  native  state  in  half-decayed  quartz,  tell  a  very  legible  story  of  the  time 
when  all  the  component  parts  of  the  earth  were  in  a  fluid  state,  and 
were  thrown  off"  by  the  boihng  mass  beneath  as  a  kettle  throws  off"  froth 
and  scum. 

There  came  a  day  when  the  under  crust  could  no -longer  bear  the 
weight  of  the  mass  which,  after  being  thrown  off"  daily,  returned,  by  the 
force  of  gravitation,  to  the  surface  of  its  parent.    A  time  came  when  the 

*  For  an  account  of  the  sing^ular  views  which  the  ancients  had  entertained  on 
this  subject,  see  "The  Theology  of  the  Phoenicians,"  hy  Sanchoniaiho,  who  flourished 
about  the  time  of  the  Trojan  war.  TxColished  in  a  collection  o£  Ancient  Fragments. 
New  York.     1835. 


54  APPENDIX. 

incandescent  and  inchoate  planet — if  so  daring  a  figure  may  be  ventured 
— felt  tlie  necessity  of  unusually  strenuous  measures.  It  gathered  all  its 
fiery  energies,  and  mustered  all  its  fearful  strength.  The  effect  was  uni- 
versal, not  local.  AVith  such  bodies  distances  of  25,000  miles  must  be 
trifling,  and  the  earth's  meridian — a  paltry  8000  miles — not  worth  men- 
tioning. One  can  imagine  the  purpose  and  eft"ort  being  common  to  the 
entire  molten  and  raging  mass. 

It  came  at  last.  After  throes  of  inconceivable  agony,  with  a  roar  and 
a  convulsion  which  must  have  destroyed  every  living  thing  then  existent 
upon  the  face  of  the  planet,  in  the  midst  of  general  chaos,  confusion, 
and  desolation,  the  earth  relieved  itself.  It  tore  from  its  half-cooled  sur- 
face immense  masses,  and  projected  them  with  monstrous  force  into 
space;  not  on  one  side  alone,  but  on  all.  Lumps  of  earth  four  and  five 
miles  in  thickness,  and  thousands  of  miles  long  and  wide,  were  in  an  in- 
stant forced  upwards  with  such  force  as  to  pass  beyond  the  circle  of  the 
earth's  attraction.  These  various  masses,  thus  launched  into  space,  soon 
felt  the  attraction  of  each  other,  and  assembled  together.  They  met, 
and,  agreeably  to  the  sublime  law  of  celestial  bodies,  remained  suspended 
in  space  at  the  point  where  the  attraction  of  the  earth  meets  that  of  the 
sun.  That  other  celestial  law  which  forbids  the  torpidity  of  any  atom 
of  matter  compelled  the  aggregated  mass  to  revolve,  and  the  revolution 
forced  the  mass  into  a  spherical  shape. 

Thus  the  moon  came  into  being.  An  off'shoot  from  the  earth,  it  pays 
homage  to  its  parent  by  revolving  round  it,  and  reflecting  back  to  it  a 
part  of  the  sun's  light  during  the  period  when  that  luminary  is  obscured 
to  us.  Had  the  force  with  which  its  substance  was  expelled  from  the 
body  of  the  earth  been  less,  it  would  have  returned  to  our  surface,  just 
as  those  fragments  of  matter  called  aerolites  do  at  regular  intervals ;  had 
that  force  been  greater,  it  would  have  entered  upon  the  vast  area  which. 
is  the  domain  of  the  sun,  and  would  have  been  attracted  to  that  great 
cosmical  body,  and  been  fused  by  its  intense  heat.  It  was  sent  abroad 
with  precisely  the  force  necessary  to  sustain  it  in  equilibrio  between  the 
earth  and  the  sun,  and  hence  it  is  "  the  lesser  light  which  rules  the 
night." 

This  is  not  the  only  service  which  it  renders  us.  By  its  creation  it 
caused  great  hollows  in  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Into  these  hollows  the 
waters  which  lay  on  the  face  of  the  deep  naturally  gathered,  and  became 
oceans,  lakes,  seas,  and  rivers.  The  cavities  drained  the  earth  of  the 
moisture  which  had  rendered  it  unfit  for  the  habitation  of  the  higher 
order  of  vertebrated  creatures.     Thus  by  degrees  were  formed  the  great 


APPENDIX.  55 

Atlantic  and  Pacific,  the  JSTorthern  and  the  Southern  oceans,  leaving  here 
and  there  tracts  of  cool,  dry  land  for  man  to  inhabit  at  the  word  of  his 
Creator.  N"or  did  the  office  of  the  moon  stop  here.  While  it  was  up- 
held in  space  by  the  attraction  of  the  earth,  it  returned  the  compliment 
by  exercising  a  reciprocal  attraction  upon  the  waters  for  which  it  had 
created  beds.  With  the  beautiful  regularity  which  is  the  characteristic 
of  heavenly  bodies,  it  affected  them  at  uniform  intervals,  causing  the 
tides  to  flow  and  to  ebb,  and  to  vibrate  between  the  spring  and  the  neap 
flow.  Lastly,  it  relieved  the  earth  of  a  vf^st  quantity  of  superincumbent 
matter,  equal,  in  fact,  to  over  one-fiftieth  of  the  whole  bulk  of  the  planet. 
One  must  imagine  the  earth  in  the  condition  of  a  gentleman  who  has 
dined  copiously,  and  whose  interior  is  troubled  by  an  unusual  burden ; 
the  convulsion  which  led  to  the  creation  of  the  moon  is  similar  to  the 
effect  of  the  dose  which  the  gentleman,  if  he  be  wise,  will  instantly 
take. 

In  departing  from  us,  and  setting  up  for  herself,  the  moon  forgot  some 
articles  of  baggage  which  were  essential  to  her  future  comfort  and  pros- 
perity. Among  these  were  air  and  water.  How  we  came  by  these  two 
useful  commodities  it  were  hard  to'  say. 

This  is  made  quite  certain  by  the  discoveries  of  astronomers.  Rains, 
dews,  oceans,  lakes,  hail,  snow,  clouds,  are  all  unknown  to  the  moon. 
Nothing  shields  its  surface  from  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun.  Wher- 
ever the  light  of  that  fierce  luminary  penetrates  the  moon's  surface  is 
incessantly  hot. 

Of  volcanic  origin,  the  moon  is  true  to  its  descent.  It  is  full  of  volca- 
noes, most  of  which,  however,  perhaps  from  a  conviction  of  the  useless- 
ness  of  further  action — there  being  nothing  to  destroy,  and  no  one  even 
to  see  their  explosions — are  now  silent  and  torpid.  But  they  wrought 
out  their  destiny  so  long  and  so  faithfully,  that  the  surface  of  the  moon 
is  frightfully  disfigured  and  uneven.  Switzerland  is  a  prairie  compared 
to  the  smoothest  part  of  the  moon's  surface.  It  is  nothing  but  incessant 
mountain  and  hollow.  Lunar  Alps  and  Rocky  Mountains  intersect 
every  few  miles  of  the  surface.  The  Himalayas  would  be  unnoticed 
among  the  gigantic  ranges  which  ornament  the  lunar  superficies.  And 
the  projections,  mighty  as  they  are,  are  but  trifling  in  comparison  with 
the  hollows.  It  would  seem  as  though  the  moon,  with  apish  weakness, 
had  tried  to  imitate  the  earth  in  throwing  off  space  for  rivers  and  oceans 
— forgetting  that  it  contained  no  water  to  fill  the  cavities.  Astronomers 
have  made  the  most  extraordinary  discoveries  in  reference  to  these  lunar 
hollows.     Some  of  them  appear  to  be  about  fifty  miles  deep,  and  a  hun- 


56  APPENDIX. 

dred  miles  or  so  wide,  with  precipitous  sides.  Mitcliell  has  vividly  de- 
scribed these  terrible  places.  Those  who  have  looked  over  a  precipice  a 
few  hundred  feet  in  depth  may  perhaps  form  some  rude  idea  of  what  it 
must  be  to  gaze  down  into  a  hole  fifty  miles  deep — so  deep  that  the  bot- 
tom would  almost  escape  the  eye,  were  there  an  intervening  atmosphere 
—a  great,  monstrous  cave,  Avith  no  vegetation  either  on  the  borders  or 
on  the  top,  or  on  the  sides  or  on  the  bottom ;  no  life  of  any  kind,  not 
ev.en  the  least  sound,  to  break  the  endless  monotony  of  silence — every- 
where dull,  warm  scoriae,  lava,  and  stones  of  volcanic  origin.  But  even 
these  are  the  smallest  of  the  lunar  cavities.  Latterly,  acute  astronomers, 
with ■  improved  instruments,  have  gazed  into  holes  in  the  moon's  surface, 
and  estimated  them  to  be  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  and  three 
hundred  miles  deep,  with  fissures  in  them  through  which  the  sunlight 
penetrated. 

Fancy  the  scene !  Well  may  it  have  been  termed  the  abomination  of 
desolation !  Surely  this  fair  earth,  with  all  its  gloomy  places  and  all  its 
dreary  scenes,  contains  nothing  so  overwhelming  in  its  terrible  despair 
as  the  moon.  And  who,  gazing  at  its  mild  white  face  as  it  emerges  from 
the  cover  of  a  cloud,  would  deem  it  so  sad  and  desolate  a  sphere? 

There  are  no  "  men' in  the  moon."  There  cannot  be,  for  they  could 
not  exist  without  air  and  water.  'Tis  a  pity,  for  the  sight  of  this  planet 
of  ours,  thirteen  times  the  size  which  the  moon  appears  to  us,  as  fair, 
and  bright,  and  shining  as  our  nightly  luminary,  would  be  a  sight  worth 
seeing. 

Science  has  made  such  progress,  and  common  sense  has  so  far  kept 
pace  with  it,  that  the  old  idea  that  this  was  the  only  inhabited  sphere  in 
the  universe  is  now  completely  exploded.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  our.  planet  is  the  only  one  in  our  solar  system  which  is  devoted  to 
a  useful  career ;  nor  is  there  any  ground  for  imagining  that  our  sun  is 
the  only  one,  of  the  myriad  of  suns  we  see  every  night,  which  gives 
light,  and  heat,  and  happiness  to  human  creatures.  On  the  contrary, 
the  supreme  wisdom  of  the  Deity  affords  a  fair  presumption  that  this 
little  planet  of  ours  is  but  as  a  grain  of  sand  among  the  worlds  which 
have  been  created  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  that  each  planet  after  its 
kind  is  fitted  for  the  habitation  of  creatures  whose  ofiice  and  purpose  it 
is  to  thank  and  bless  Him  for  their  existence.  Moons  may  be  an  excep- 
tion for  a  time. 

Of  all  this  we  know  but  little,  and  can  only  conjecture  vaguely.  As 
science  advances,  we  may  have  telescopic  instruments  so  superior  to 
those  now  in  use  that  we  shall  be  able  to  decipher  the  moon's  surface  as^ 


APPENDIX.  57 

plainly  as  a  distant  sliore  on  our  own  planet.  But  visits  tliither  must 
ever  remain  as  impossible  as  they  are  at  present.  The  story  of  Hans 
Pfall  Avill  remain  a  brilliant  imagination  to  the  end  of  time. 

"  In  consequence  of  the  moon  having  no  atmosphere,  or  but  a  very 
thin  one,  all  celestial  objects  must  be  seen  with  very  great  distinctness. 
The  earth,  when  full,  appears  to  an  inhabitant  of  the  moon  thirteen 
times  as  large  as  the  moon  appears  to  ns ;  that  is,  its  diameter  is  about 
3y\  times  as  large  as  our  apparent  lunar  diameter.  It  is  always  on  the 
same  part  of  the  heaven,  when  seen  from  the  same  part  of  the  moon. 
M.  Quetelet,  in  his  Astronomie  UUmentaire,  Paris,  1826,  a  very  good 
work,  which  ought  to  be  translated,  has  the  following  remarks  on  the 
appearance  of  the  earth  at  the  moon,  which  we  would  rather  quote  than 
vouch  for,  though  they  may  possibly  be  well  founded. 

"  Our  vast  continents,  our  seas,  even  our  forests  are  visible  to  them  ; 
they  perceive  the  enormous  piles  of  ice  collected  at  the  poles,  and  the 
girdle  of  vegetation  which  extends  on  both  sides  of  the  equator ;  as  well 
as  the  clouds  which  float  over  our  heads,  and  sometimes  hide  us  from 
them.  The  burning  of  a  town  or  forest  could  not  escape  them,  and  if 
they  had  good  optical  instruments,  they  could  even  see  the  building  of 
a  new  town,  or  the  sailing  of  a  fleet." 

The  lunar  day,  as  we  shall  afterwards  see,  is  equivalent  to  our  actual 
month  of  29^  days  :  though  the  rotation  of  the  moon  on  her  axis  is  per- 
formed in  the  sidereal  month  of  27  days  8  hours  nearly.  Hence  the  in- 
habitant of  the  moon  sees  the  sun  for  14f  of  our  days  together,  which 
time  is  followed  by  a  night  of  the  same  duration.  Of  course  the  ex- 
istence of  any  animal  like  man  is  impossible  there,  as  well  on  this  ac- 
count as  on  that  of  the  want  of  an  atmosphere. 

The  phases  which  the  earth  presents  to  the  moon  are  similar  in  ap- 
pearance to  those  which  the  moon  presents  to  the  earth,  but  in  a  dif- 
ferent order.  Thus,  when  it  is  new  moon  at  the  earth,  it  is  full  earth 
at  the  moon  :  and  the  contrary.  "When  the  moon  is  in  her  first  quar- 
ter, the  earth  is  in  its  third  quarter,  and  so  on ;  while  half-moon  at  the 
earth  is  accompanied  by  half-earth  at  the  moon. 

There  is  no  branch  of  science  better  fitted  to  be  made  the  leading- 
subject  of  general  instruction  than  that  which  relates  to  the  planetary 
and  sidereal  universe.  The  truths  which  it  reveals  are  so  startling  in 
their  nature,  and  apparently  so  far  beyond  the  reach  of  human  intelli- 
gence, that  men  of  high  literary  name  have  confessed  their  incapacity 
to  understand  them,  and  their  inability  to  believe  them.  There  are 
few,  indeed,  we  fear,  who  really  believe  that  they  sojourn  on  a  revolving; 


68  APPENDIX. 

globe,  and  that  each  day  and  year  of  life  is  measured  by  its  revolutions. 
There  are  few  who  believe  that  the  great  luminary  of  the  firmament, 
whose  restless  activity  they  daily  witness,  is  an  immovable  star,  con- 
trolling, by  its  solid  mass,  the  primary  planets  of  our  system,  and  form- 
ing, as  it  were,  the  gnomon  of  the  great  dial  which  measures  the  thread 
of  life  and  the  tenure  of  empires.  Fewer  still  believe  that  each  of  the 
million  of  stars — those  atoms  of  light  which  the  telescope  can  scarcely 
descry — are  the  centres  of  planetary  systems  that  may  equal  or  surpass 
our  own ;  and  still  smaller  is  the  number  who  believe  that  the  solid 
pavement  of  the  globe  upon  which  we  nightly  slumber  is  an  elastic 
crust,  imprisoning  fires  and  forces  which  have  often  burst  forth  in  tre- 
mendous energy,  and  are,  at  this  very  instant,  struggling  to  escape — now 
finding  an  outlet  in  volcanic  fires — now  heaving  and  shaking  the  earth 
• — now  upraising  islands  and  continents,  and  gathering  strength  perhaps 
for, some  final  outburst  which  may  shatter  our  earth  in  pieces,  or  change 
its  form,  or  scatter  its  waters  over  the  land.  And  yet  these  are  truths 
than  which  there  is  nothing  truei',  and  nothing  more  worthy  of  our 
study. 

In  order  to  learn,  then,  what  is  the  constitution,  and  what  has  been 
or  may  be  the  probable  history  of  the  various  worlds  in  our  firmament, 
we  must  study  the  constitution  and  physical  history  of  our  own.  The 
men  of  limited  reason  who  believed  that  the  earth  was  created  and 
launched  into  its  ethereal  course  when  man  was  summoned  to  its  occu- 
pation, must  have  either  denied  altogether  the  existence  of  our  solar 
system,  or  have  regarded  all  its  planets  as  coeval  with  their  own,  and  as 
but  the  ministers  to  its  convenience.  Science,  however,  has  now  cor- 
rected this  error,  and  liberated  the  pious  mind  from  its  embarrassments. 
The  Paleontologist — the  student  of  ancient  life — has  demonstrated,  by 
evidence  not  to  be  disputed,  that  the  earth  had  been  inhabited  by  ani- 
mals and  adorned  with  plants  during  immeasurable  cycles  of  time  ante- 
cedent to  the  creation  of  man — that  when  the  volcano,  the  earthquake, 
and  the  flood,  had  destroyed  and  buried  them,  nobler  forms  of  life  were 
created  to  undergo  the  same  fiery  ordeal : — and  that,  by  a  series  of  suc- 
cessive creations  and  catastrophes,  the  earth  was  prepared  for  the  resi- 
dence of  man,  and  the  rich  materials  in  its  bosom  elaborated  for  his  use, 
and  thrown  within  his  grasp.  In  the  age  of  our  own  globe,  then,  we  see 
the  age  of  its  brother  planets,  and  in  the  antiquity  of  our  own  system 
we  see  the  antiquity  of  the  other  systems  of  the  universe.  In  our  catas- 
■  trophes,  too,  we  recognise  theirs,  and  in  our  advancing  knowledge  and 
progressive  civilization,  we  witness  the  development  of  the  u.niversal 


APPENDIX. 


59 


mind — the  marcli  of  the  immortal  spirit  to  its  final  destiny  of  glory  or 
of  shame. 

The  following  are  the  names  which  have  been  given  to  the  mountains 
and  valleys,  or  hollows,  in  the  moon,  and  which  are  referred  to  in  the 
accompanying  picture  [See  title  page]. 


MOUNTAINS. 

1. 

The  Apennines. 

6.  The  Altai  Mountains. 

2. 

The  Caucasus. 

Y.  The  Cordilleras. 

3. 

The  Alps, 

8.  The  Riphaj  Mountains. 

4. 

Taurus. 

9.  The  Carpathians. 

o. 

risemus. 

10.  The  Hercynian  Mountains, 

HOLLOWS,    OR    VALLEYS. 

A. 

The  Crisian  Sea. 

L.  The  Middle  Bay. 

B. 

The  Sea  of  Fertility  (!!). 

M.  The  Sea  of  Clouds. 

C. 

The  Sea  of  Nectar. 

K  The  Sea  of  Mist. 

D. 

The  Tranquil  Sea. 

0.  TheBay  of  Epidemics, 

E. 

The  Serene  Sea. 

P.  The  Stormy  Ocean.       . 

F. 

The  Sea  of  Dreams. 

Q.  The  Showery  Sea. 

G. 

The  Sea  of  Death, 

R.  The  Sea  of  Rainbows. 

H. 

The  Dreamy  Marsh. 

S.  The  Sea  of  Dews. 

I. 

The  Cold  Sea. 

T.  Humboldt's  Sea. 

K. 

The  Sea  of  Yapors. 

As  will  be  seen,  astronomers  have  done  what  they  could  to  relieve  the 
dreariness  of  nature  by  a  free  indulgence  in  fanciful  names. 

Dr.  Chalmers,  speaking  of  the  advantages  derived  from  the  discovery 
of  the  telescope  and  microscope,  says,  "  The  one  led  me  to  see  a  system 
in  every  star.  The  other  leads  me  to  see  a  world  in  every  atom.  The 
one  taught  me  that  this  mighty  globe,  with  the  whole  burden  of  its 
people,  and  of  its  countries,  is  but  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  high  field  of 
immensity.  The  other  teaches  me  that  every  grain  of  sand  may  harbor 
within  it  the  tribes  and  families  of  a  busy  population.  The  one  told 
me  of  the  insignificance  of  the  world  I  tread  upon.  The  other  redeems 
it  from  all  its  insignificance;  for  it  tells  rae  that  in  the  leaves  of  every 
forest,  and  in  the  flowers  of  every  garden,  and  in  the  waters  of  every 
rivulet,  there  are  worlds  teeming  with  life,  and  numberless  as  are  the 
glories  of  the  firmament.     The  one  has  suggested  to  rae  that  beyond 


60  APPENDIX. 

and  above  all  that  is  visible  to  man,  there  may  lie  fields  of  creation 
whicli  sweep  immeasurably  along^  and  carry  the  impress  of  the  Al- 
mighty's hand  to  the  remotest  scenes  of  the  universe.  The  other  sug- 
gests to  me,  that  within  and  beneath  all  that  minuteness  which  the 
aided  eye  of  man  has  been  able  to  explore,  there  may  lie  a  region  of 
invisibles ;  and  that,  could  we  draw  aside  the  mysterious  curtain  which 
shrouds  it  from  our  senses,  we  might  there  see  a  theatre  of  as  many 
wonders  as  astronomy  has  unfolded ;  a  universe  within  the  compass  of 
a  point  so  small,  as  to  elude  all  the  powers  of  the  microscope,  but  where 
the  wonder-working  God  finds  room  for  the  exercise  of  all  bis  attributes, 
where  he  can  raise  another  mechanism  of  worlds,,  and  fill  and  animate 
them  all  with  the  evidences  of  his  glory." 


Opinions  of  the  American  Press  Respecting  the  Foregoing  Discovery. 

"  Hbrschel's  Great  Discoveries. — We  are  too  much  pleased  with 
the  remarks  of  the  sensible,  candid,  and  scientific  portions  of  the  public 
press  upon  the  extracts  which  we  have  published  relative  to  these  won- 
ders of  the  age,  to  direct  our  attention  very  severely  to-day  to  that 
sceptical  class  of  our  cotemporaries  to  whom  none  of  these  attributes 
can  be  ascribed.  Consummate  ignorance  is  always  incredulous  to  the 
higher  order  of  scientific  discoveries,  because  it  cannot  possibly  compre- 
hend them.  Its  mental  thorax  is  quite  capacious  enough  to  swallow 
any  dogmas,  however  great,  that  are  given  upon  the  authority  of  names ; 
but  it  strains  most  perilously  to  receive  the  great  truths  of  reason  and 
science.  We  scarcely  ever  knew  a  very  ignorant  person  who  would  be- 
lieve in  the  existence  of  those  myriads  of  invisible  beings  which  inhabit 
a  drop  of  water,  and  every  grain  of  dust,  until  he  had  actually  beheld 
them  through  the  microscope  by  which  they  are  developed.  Yet  these 
very  persons  will  readily  believe  in  the  divinity  of  Matthias  the  prophet, 
and  in  the  most  improbable  credenda  of  extravagant  systems  of  faith. 
The  Journal  of  Commerce,  for  instance,  says  it  cannot  believe  in  these 
great  discoveries  of  Dr.  Herschel,  yet  it  beheves  and  defends  the  innocence 
of  the  murderer  Avery.  These  who  in  a  former  age  imprisoned  Galileo 
for  asserting  his  great  discoveries  with  the  telescope,  and  determined 
upon  sentencing  him  to  be  burnt  alive,  nevertheless  believed  that  Simon 
Magus  actually  flew  in  the  air  by  the  aid  of  the  devil,  and  that  w^hen  that 


APPENDIX.  61 

aid  was  withdrawn  he  fell  to  the  ground  and  broke  his  neck.  The  great 
mechanical  discoverer,  Worcester,  obtained  no  credence  for  his  theories 
in  his  day,  though  they  are  now  being  continually  demonstrated  by  prac- 
tical operation.  Happily,  however,  those  who  impudently  and  ignorantly 
deny  the  great  discoveries  of  Herschel,  are  chiei3y  to  be  found  among 
those  whose  faith  or  whose  scepticism,  would  never  be  received  as  a 
guide  for  the  opinions  of  other  men.  From  among  that  portion  of  the 
public  press  whose  intelligence  and  acquirements  render  them  competent 
judges  of  the  great  scientific  questions  now  before  the  community, 'we 
extract  the  following  frank  declarations  of  their  opinions." — New  York 
Sun,  Sep.  1,  1835. 

"  No  article,  we  believe,  has  appeared  for  years,  that  will  command  so 
general  a  perusal  and  publication.  Sir  John  has  added  a  stock  of  know- 
ledge to  the  present  age  that  will  immortalize  his  name,  and  place  it 
high  on  the  page  of  science." — Daily  Advertiser. 

"Discoveries  ik  the  Moon. — We  commence  to-day  the  publication 
of  an  interesting  article  which  is  stated  to  have  been  copied  from  the 
Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science,  and  which  made  its  first  appearance  here 
in  a  cotemporary  journal  of  this  city.  It  appears  to  carry  intrinsic  evi- 
dence of  being  an  authentic  document." — Mercantile  Advertiser. 

"  Stupendous  Discovery  in  Astronomy. — We  have  read  with  un- 
speakable emotions  of  pleasure  and  astonishment,  an  article  from  the 
last  Edinburgh  Scientific  Journal,  containing  an  account  of  the  recent 
discoveries  of  Sir  John  Herschel  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope." — Albany 
Daily  Advertiser. 

"  It  is  quite  proper  that  the  Sun  should  be  the  means  of  shedding  so 
much  light  on  the  Moon.  That  there  should  be  winged  people  in  the 
Moon  does  not  strike  us  as  more  wonderful  than  the  existence  of  such  a 
race  of  beings  on  earth ;  and  that  there  does  or  did  exist  such  a  race  rests 
on  the  evidence  of  that  most  veracious  of  voyagers  and  circumstantial 
of  chroniclers,  Peter  Wilkins,  whose  celebrated  work  not  only  gives  an 
account  of  the  general  appearance  and  habits  of  a  most  interesting  tribe 
of  flying  Indians,  but  also  of  all  those  more  delicate  and  engaging  traits 
which  the  author  was  enabled  to  discover  by  reason  of  the  conjugal  re- 
lations he  entered  into  with  one  of  the  females  of  the  winged  tribe." — 
iV.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"We  think  we  can  trace  in  it  marks  of  transatlantic  origin." — iV.  Y: 
Commercial  Advertiser. 

"■  The  writer  (Dr.  Andrew  Grant)  displays  the  most  extensive  and  ac- 
curate  knowledge  of  astronomy,  and   the   description  of   Sir  John's 


62  APPENDIX. 

recently  improved  instrnments,  the  principle  on  which  the  inestimable 
improvements  were  fonnded,  the  account  of  the  wonderful  discoveries  in 
the  moon,  (fee,  are  all  probable  and  plausible,  and  have  an  air  of  intense 
verisimilitude." — JV.  Y.  Times. 

"  Gkeat  Astronomical  Discoveries  ! — By  the  late  arrivals  from 
England  there  has  been  received  in  this  country  a  supplement  to  the 
JSdinburffh  Journal  of  Science  containing  intelligence  of  the  most  as- 
tounding interest  from  Prof.  Herschel's  observatory  at  the  Cape  of  Good 

Hope The  promulgation  of  these  discoveries  creates  a  new  era 

in  astronomy  and  science  generally." — New  Yorker. 

"  Our  enterprising  neighbors  of  the  Sun,  we  are  pleased  to  learn, 
are  likely  to  enjoy  a  rich  reward  from  the  late  lunar  discoveries.  They 
deserve  all  they  receive  from  the  public — '  they  are  worthy.'  " — N.  Y. 
Spirit  of '16. 

"  After  all,  however,  our  doubts  and  incredulity  may  be  a  wrong  to 
the  learned  astronomer,  and  the  circumstances  of  this  wonderful  dis- 
covery may  be  correct.  Let  us  do  him  justice,  and  allow  him  to  tell 
his  story  in  his  own  w^ay." — JV.  Y.  Sunday  News. 

"  The  article  is  said  to  be  an  extract  from  a  supplement  to  the  Edin- 
burgh Journal  of  Science.  It  sets  forth  difficulties  encountered  by  Sir 
John,  on  obtaining  his  glass  castings  for  his  great  telescope,  with  mag- 
nifying powers  of  42,000.  The  account,  excepting  the  magnifying  power, 
has  been  before  published  "  \i.  e.,  in  the  Supplement  to  the  Edinburgh 
Journal  of  Science. — Ed.  Sun\ — U.  S.  Gazette. 

"  It  is  not  worth  while  for  us  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  truth  or 
falsity  of  the  narrative,  as  our  readers  can,  after  an  attentive  perusal  of 
the  whole  story,  decide  for  themselves.  Whether  true  or  false,  the 
article  is  written  with  consummate  ability,  and  possesses  intense  inte- 
rest."— Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

"  These  are  but  a  handful  of  the  innumerable  certificates  of  credence, 
and  of  complimentary  testimonials  with  which  the  universal  press  of  the 
country  is  loading  our  tables.  Indeed,  we  find  veiy  few  of  the  public 
papers  express  any  other  opinion.  We  have  named  the  Journal  of  Com- 
merce as  an  exception,  because  it  not  only  ignorantly  doubted  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  discoveries,  but  ill-naturedly  said  that  we  had  fabricated 
them  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  noise  and  drawing-  attention  to  our 
paper. 

"  Col.  Webb  of  the  Courier  and  Inquirer  has  said  nothing  upon  the 
subject;  but  he  only  feels  the  more,  and  we  are  this  moment  assured 
that  he  has  made  arrangements  with  the  proprietors  of  the  Charleston 


APPENDIX.  63 

steam-packets  to  take  the  splendid  boat  William  Gibbons  of  that  line, 
and  charter  her  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  -whither  he  is  going  with 
all  his  family— including  Hoskin. 

"  We  yesterday  extracted  from  the  celebrated  Supplement,  a  mathema- 
tical problem  demonstrating  an  entirely  new,  and  the  only  true  method 
of  measuring  the  height  of  the  lunar  mountains.  We  were  not  then 
aware  of  its  great  importance  as  a  demonstration,  also,  of  the  authenti- 
city of  the  great  discoveries.  But  several  eminent  mathematicians  have 
since  called  and  assured  us,  that  it  is  the  greatest  mathematical  dis- 
covery of  the  present  age.  Now,  that  problem  was  either  predicated  by 
us,  or  by  some  other  person,  who  has  thereby  made  the  greatest  of  all 
modern  discoveries  in  mathematical  astronomy.  We  did  not  make  it, 
for  we  know  knothing  of  mathematics  whatever  ;  therefore,  it  was  made 
by  the  only  person  to  whom  it  can  rationally  be  ascribed,  namely, 
Herschel  the  astronomer,  its  only  avowed  and  undeniable  author." — 
Editor  of  the  Sun. 


THE  STORY  OF 


je 


ViVL 


A   NEWSPAPER   IS  ,THE   MOST    NEARLY    HUMAN   OF    ALL   INANIMATE   THINGS  — 
"THE    STORY   OF   THE    SUN"  IS    A   ROMANCE    FASCINATING, 

ILLUMINATING,    DELIGHTFUL 

By  Frank  M.   O'Brien 

EDITORIAL  NOTE — This  is  the  second  of  a  series  of  articles  narrating  the 
history  of  the  New  York  Sun,  and  giving  a  vital,  intimate  view  of  New  York  life  during 
more  than  eighty  eventful  years.  The  first  article,  printed  last  month,  told  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  Sun  by  Benjamin  H.  Day  in  September,  1833,  of  its  rapid  rise  to  success,  and 
of  the  stirring  days  when  Horace  Greeley,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  and  James  Watson 
Webb  were  among  the  active  journalists  of  New  York. 


THE  young  man  whom  Day  met  at 
the  murder  trial  in  White  Plains 
was  Richard  Adams  Locke,  a  re- 
porter who  v;as  destined  to  kick  up  more 
dust  than  perhaps  any  other  man  of  his 
profession.  As  he  comes  on  the  stage, 
we  must  let  his  predecessor,  George  W. 
Wisner,  pass  into  the  wings. 

Wisner  was  a  good  man,  as  a  reporter, 
as  a  writer  of  editorial  articles,  and  as 
part  owner  of  the  paper.  His  campaign 
for  Abolition  irritated  Mr.  Day  at  first, 
but  the  young  man's  motives  were  so  pure 
and  his  articles  so  logical  that  Day  rec- 
ognized the  justice  of  the  cause,  even  as 
he  realized  the  foolish  methods  employed 
by  some  of  the  Abolitionists.  Wisner  set 
the  face  of  the  Sun  against  slavery,  and 
Day  kept  it  so,  but  there  were  minor  mat- 
ters of  policy  upon  which  the  partners 
never  agreed,  never  could  agree. 

When  Wisner's  health  became  poor,  in 
the  summer  of  1835,  he  expressed  a  desire 
to  get  away  from  New  York.     Mr.  Day 


paid  him  five  thousand  dollars  for  his 
interest  in  the  paper  —  a  large  sum  in 
those  days,  considering  the  fact  that 
Wisner  had  won  his  share  with  no  capital 
except  his  pen.  Wisner  went  West  and 
settled  at  Pontiac,  Michigan.  There  his 
health  improved,  his  fortune  increased, 
and  he  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the 
Michigan  Legislature. 

When  Day  found  that  Locke  was  the 
best  reporter  attending  the  trial  of 
Matthias  the  Prophet,  he  hired  him  to 
write  a  series  of  articles  on  the  religious 
fakir.  These,  the  first  "  feature  stories  " 
that  ever  appeared  in  the  Sun,  were 
printed  on  the  front  page. 

A  few  weeks  later,  while  the  Matthias 
articles  were  still  being  sold  on  the  streets 
in  pamphlet  form,  Locke  went  to  Day 
and  told  him  that  his  boss.  Colonel  Webb 
of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  had  dis- 
charged him  for  working  for  the  Stin  "  on 
the  side."  Wisner  was  about  to  leave 
the  paper,   and   Day  was   glad   to  hire 


100 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


Locke,  for  he  needed  a  good  editorial 
writer.  Twelve  dollars  a  week  was  the 
alluring  wage,  and  Locke  accepted  it. 

THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  MOON  HOAX 

Locke  was  then  thirty-five — ten  years 
senior  to  his  employer.  Let  his  contem- 
porary, Edgar  Allan  Poe,  describe  him: 

He  is  about  five  feet  seven-  inches  in  height, 
symmetrically  formed;  there  is  an  air  of  dis- 
tinction about  his  whole  person — the  air  noble 
of  genius.  His  face  is  strongly  pitted  by  the 
smallpox,  and,  perhaps  from  the  same  cause, 
there  is  a  marked  obliquity  in  the  eyes;  a  cer- 
tain calm,  clear  luminousness,  however,  about 
these  latter  amply  compensates  for  the  defect, 
and  the  forehead  is  truly  beautiful  in  its  in- 
tellectuality. I  am  acquainted  with  no  person 
possessing  so  fine  a  forehead  as  Mr.  Locke. 

Locke  was  nine  years  older  than  Poe, 
who  at  this  time  had  most  of  his  fame 
ahead  of  him.  Poe  was  quick  to  recognize 
the  quality  of  Locke's  writings;  in- 
deed, the  poet  saw,  perhaps  more  clearly 
than  others  of  that  period,  that  America 
was  full  of  good  writers — a  fact  of  which 
the  general  public  was  neglectful.  This 
was  Poe's  tribute  to  Locke's  Hterary  gift: 

His  prose  style  is  noticeable  for  its  concision, 
luminosity,  completeness  —  each  quaHty  in  its 
proper  place.  He  has  that  method  so  generally 
characteristic  of  genius  proper.  Everything  he 
writes  is  a  model  in  its  peculiar  way,  serving 
just  the  purposes  intended  and  nothing  to  spare. 

The  Sun's  new  writer  was  a  collateral 
descendant  of  John  Locke,  the  English 
philosopher  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Born  in  New  York  in  1800,  he  was  edu- 
cated by  his  mother  and  by  private  tutors 
until  he  was  nineteen,  when  he  went  to 
England  and  entered  Cambridge.  While 
still  a  student  he  contributed  to  the  Bee, 
the  Imperial  Magazine,  and  other  Eng- 
lish publications.  In  his  political  beliefs 
he  was  thoroughly  American,  and  when 
he  left  Cambridge  he  had  the  hardihood 
to  start  the  London  Republican,  the  title 
of  which  describes  its  purpose.  This  was 
a  failure,  for  London  declined  to  warm 
to  the  theories  of  American  democracy, 
no  matter  how  scholarly  their  expression. 


Abandoning  the  Republican,  young 
Locke  devoted  himself  to  literature  and 
science.  He  ran  a  periodical  called  the 
Cornucopia  for  about  six  months,  but  it 
was  not  a  financial  success,  and  in  1830 
he  returned  to  New  York  for  good  and 
all.  Colonel  Webb  saw  his  merits,  and 
put  him  at  work  on  his  paper. 

Locke  could  write  almost  anything.  In 
Cambridge  and  in  Fleet  Street  he  had 
picked  up  a  wonderful  store  of  general 
information.  He  could  turn  out  prose  or 
poetry,  politics  or  pathos,  anecdotes  or 
astronomy. 

While  he  lived  in  London,  Locke  was 
a  regular  reader  of  the  Edinburgh  New 
Philosophical  Journal,  and  he  brought 
some  copies  of  it  to  America.  One  of 
these,  an  issue  of  1826,  contained  an 
article  by  Dr.  Thomas  Dick,  of  Dundee, 
a  pious  man,  but  inclined  to  speculate  on 
the  possibilities  of  the  universe.  In  this 
article  Dr.  Dick  suggested  the  feasibility 
of  communicating  with  the  moon  by 
means  of  great  stone  symbols  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  The  people  of  the  moon — 
if  there  were  any — would  fathom  the  dia- 
grams and  reply  in  a  similar  way.  Dr. 
Dick  explained  afterward  that  he  wrote 
this  piece  with  the  idea  of  satirizing  a 
certain  coterie  of  eccentric  German 
astronomers. 

Now  it  happened  that  Sir  John  Fred- 
erick William  Herschel,  the  greatest 
astronomer  of  his  time,  and  the  son  of 
the  celebrated  astronomer  Sir  William 
Herschel,  went  to  South  Africa  in  Jan- 
uary, 1834,  and  estabHshed  an  obser- 
vatory at  Feldhausen,  near  Cape  Town, 
with  the  intention  of  completing  his 
survey  of  the  sidereal  heavens  by  ex- 
amining the  southern  skies  as  he  had 
swept  the  northern,  thus  to  make  the 
first  telescopic  survey  of  the  whole  surface 
of  the  visible  heavens. 

Locke  knew  about  Sir  John  and  his 
mission.  The  Matthias  case  had  blown 
over,  the  big  fire  in  Fulton  Street  was 
almost  forgotten,  and  things  were  a  bit 
dull  on  the  island  of  Manhattan.  The 
newspapers   were   in   a   state   of   armed 


THE    STORY    OF   THE   SUN 


101 


truce.  As  Locke  and  his  fellow  journalists 
gathered  at  the  American  Hotel  bar  for 
their  after-dinner  brandy,  it  is  probable 
that  there  was  nothing,  not  even  the 
great  sloth  recently  arrived  at  the  Ameri- 
can Museum,  to  excite  a  good  argument. 

PREPARING   THE   WAY   FOR   THE   HOAX 

Locke  needed  money,  for  his  salary  of 
twelve  dollars  a  week  could  ill  support 
the  fine  gentleman  that  he  was;  so  he 
laid  a  plan  before  Mr.  Day.  It  was  a 
plot  as  well  as  a  plan,  and  the  first  sly 
angle  of  the  plot  appeared  on  the  second 
page  of  the  Sun  on  August  21,  1835: 

CELESTIAL  DISCOVERIES  —  The  Edin- 
burgh Courant  saj'S — "We  have  just  learnt 
from  an  eminent  publisher  in  this  city  that 
Sir  John  Herschel,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
has  made  some  astronomical  discoveries  of  the 
most  wonderful  description,  by  means  of  an 
immense  telescope  of  an  entirely  new  principle." 

Nothing  further  appeared  until  Tues- 
day, August  25,  when  three  columns  of 
the  Sun's  first  page  took  the  newspaper 
and  scientific  worlds  by  the  ears.  Those 
were  not  the  days  of  big  type.  The  Sun's 
heading  read: 

GREAT  ASTRONOMICAL  DISCOVERIES. 


LAXEIiT  MADE 
BT  SIR  JOHN  HERSOHEL,  LL.I).,  F.R.S.,  &c. 


At  tbe  Cape  ot  Good  Hope. 


IFrom  Supplement  to  the  Edinhurgh  Journal  of  Science.'] 

It  may  as  well  be  said  here  that  al- 
though there  had  been  an  Edinburgh 
Journal  of  Science,  it  ceased  to  exist 
several  years  before  1835.  The  periodical 
to  which  Dr.  Dick,  of  Dundee,  con- 
tributed his  moon  theories  was,  in  a  way, 
the  successor  to  the  Journal  of  Science, 
but  it  was  called  the  New  Philosophical 
Journal.  The  likeness  of  names  was  not 
great,  but  enough  to  cause  some  con- 
fusion. It  is  also  noteworthy  that  the 
sly  Locke  credited  to  a  supplement,  rather 
than  to  the  Journal  of  Science  itself,  the 
revelations  which  he  that  day  began  to 
pour  before  the  eyes  of  Sun  readers. 
Thus  he  started; 


In  this  unusual  addition  to  our  Journal  we 
have  the  happiness  of  making  known  to  the 
British  public,  and  thence  to  the  whole  civ- 
ilized world,  recent  discoveries  in  astronomy 
which  will  build  an  imperishable  monument  to 
the  age  in  which  we  live,  and  confer  upon  the 
present  generation  of  the  human  race  proud 
distinction  through  all  future  time.  It  has  been 
poetically  said  that  the  stars  of  heaven  are  the 
hereditary  regalia  of  man  as  the  intellectual 
sovereign  of  the  animal  creation.  He  may  now 
fold  the  zodiac  around  him  with  a  loftier  con- 
sciousness of  his  mental  supremacy. 

After  solemnly  dwelling  on  the  awe 
which  mortal  man  must  feel  upon  peering 
into  the  secrets  of  the  sky,  the  article  de- 
clared that  Sir  John  "  paused  several 
hours  before  he  commenced  his  observa- 
tions, that  he  might  prepare  his  own 
mind  for  discoveries  which  he  knew 
would  fill  the  minds  of  myriads  of  his 
fellow  men  with  astonishment."  It  con- 
tinued: 

And  well  might  he  pause!  From  the  hour 
the  first  human  pair  opened  their  eyes  to  the 
glories  of  the  blue  firmament  above  them, 
there  has  been  no  accession  to  human  knowl- 
edge at  all  comparable  in  sublime  interest  to 
that  which  he  has  been  the  honored  agent  in 
supplying.  Well  might  he  pause!  He  was 
about  to  become  the  sole  depository  of  won- 
drous secrets  which  had  been  hid  from  the 
eyes  of  all  men  that  had  lived  since  the  birth 
of  time. 

At  the  end  of  a  half-column  of  glorifica- 
tion, the  writer  got  down  to  brass  tacks: 

To  render  our  enthusiasm  intelligible,  we  will 
state  at  once  that  by  means  of  a  telescope,  of 
vast  dimensions  and  an  entirely  new  principle, 
the  younger  Herschel,  at  his  observatory  in  the 
southern  hemisphere,  has  already  made  the 
most  extraordinary  discoveries  in  every  planet 
of  our  solar  system;  has  discovered  planets  in 
other  solar  systems;  has  obtained  a  distinct 
view  of  objects  in  the  moon,  fully  equal  to 
that  which  the  unaided  eye  commands  of  ter- 
restrial objects  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred 
yards;  has  affirmatively  settled  the  question 
whether  this  satellite  be  inhabited,  and  by  what 
orders  of  beings;  has  firmly  established  a  new 
theory  of  cometary  phenomena;  and  has  solved 
or  corrected  nearly  every  leading  problem  of 
mathematical  astronomy. 

And  where  was  the  Journal  of  Science 
getting  this  mine  of  astronomical  revela- 


102 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


tion  for  its  supplement?    The  mystery  is 
explained  at  once: 

We  are  indebted  to  the  devoted  friendship  of 
Dr.  Andrew  Grant,  the  pupil  of  the  elder,  and 
for  several  years  past  the  inseparable  coadjutor 
of  the  younger  Herschel.  The  amanuensis  of 
the  latter  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the 
indefatigable  superintendent  of  his  telescope 
during  the  whole  period  of  its  construction  and 
operations,  Dr.  Grant  has  been  able  to  supply 
us  with  intelligence  equal  in  general  interest  at 
least  to  that  which  Dr.  Herschel  himself  has 
transmitted  to  the  Royal  Society.  For  per- 
mission to  indulge  his  friendship  in  com- 
municating this  invaluable  information  to  us, 
Dr.  Grant  and  ourselves  are  indebted  to  the 
magnanimity  of  Dr.  Herschel,  who,  far  above 
all  mercenary  considerations,  has  thus  signally 
honored  and  rewarded  his  fellow  laborer  in  the 
field  of  science. 

Regarding  the  illustrations  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  implications  of  the  text, 
accompanied  the  supplement,  the  writer 
was  specific.  Most  of  them,  he  stated, 
were  copies  of  "  drawings  taken  in  the 
observatory  by  Herbert  Home,  Esq.,  who 
accompanied  the  last  powerful  series  of 
reflectors  from  London  to  the  Cape.  The 
engraving  of  the  belts  of  Jupiter  is  a  re- 
duced copy  of  an  imperial  folio  drawing 
by  Dr.  Herschel  himself.  The  segment 
of  the  inner  ring  of  Saturn  is  from  a  large 
drawing  by  Dr.  Grant." 

SOMETHING   NEW   IN   TELESCOPY 

A  history  of  Sir  William  Herschel's 
work  and  a  description  of  his  telescopes 
took  up  a  column  of  the  Sun,  and  on  top 
of  this  came  the  details — as  the  Journal 
printed  them  —  of  Sir  John's  plans  to 
outdo  his  father  by  revolutionary  methods 
and  a  greater  telescope.  Sir  John,  it  ap- 
peared, was  in  conference  with  Sir  David 
Brewster : 

After  a  few  minutes'  silent  thought,  Sir  John 
diffidently  inquired  whether  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  effect  a  transfusion  of  artificial  light 
through  the  focal  object  of  vision  1  Sir  David, 
somewhat  startled  at  the  originality  of  the  idea, 
paused  a  while,  and  then  hesitatingly  referred 
to  the  refrangibility  of  rays  and  the  angle  of 
incidence.  Sir  John,  grown  more  confident, 
adduced  the  example  of  the  Newtonian  reflector, 


in  which  the  refrangibility  was  corrected  by 
the  second  speculum  and  the  angle  of  incidence 
restored  by  the  third. 

"  And,"  continued  he,  "  why  cannot  the  illu- 
minated microscope,  say  the  hydro-oxygen,  be 
applied  to  render  distinct  and,  if  necessary, 
even  to  magnify,  the  focal  object?" 

Sir  David  sprang  from  his  chair  in  an 
ecstasy  of  conviction,  and,  leaping  half-way  to 
the  ceiling,  exclaimed: 

"Thou  art  the  man!" 

Details  of  the  casting  of  a  great  lens 
came  next.  It  was  twenty-four  feet  in 
diameter,  and  weighed  nearly  fifteen  thou- 
sand pounds  after  it  was  polished;  its  esti- 
mated magnifying-power  was  forty-two 
thousand  times.  As  he  saw  it  safely  start- 
ed on  its  way  to  Africa,  Sir  John  "  ex- 
pressed confidence  in  his  ultimate  ability 
to  study  even  the  entomology  of  the 
moon,  in  case  she  contained  insects  upon 
her  surface." 

Thus  ended  the  first  instalment  of  the 
story.  Where  had  the  Sun  got  the 
Journal  of  Science  supplement?  An  ed- 
itorial article  answered  that  "  it  was  very 
politely  furnished  us  by  a  medical  gentle- 
man immediately  from  Scotland,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  paragraph  which  appeared 
on  Friday  last  from  the  Edinburgh 
Com  ant."    The  article  added: 

The  portion  which  we  publish  to-day  is  in- 
troductory to  celestial  discoveries  of  higher  and 
more  universal  interest  than  any,  in  any  science 
yet  known  to  the  human  race.  Now  indeed  it 
may  be  said  that  we  live  in  an  age  of  discovery. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  whole  town 
buzzed  with  excitement  that  day.  Per- 
haps this  first  instalment  was  a  bit  over 
the  heads  of  most  readers;  it  was  so 
technical,  so  foreign.  But  in  Nassau  and 
Ann  Streets,  wherever  two  newspaper- 
men were  gathered  together,  there  was 
buzzing  enough.  What  was  coming  next? 
Why  hadn't  they  thought  to  subscribe  to 
the  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science,  with 
its  wonderful  supplement? 

As  Mr,  Day  and  his  new  writer,  Mr. 
Locke,  dropped  into  Tammany  Hall  for 
their  afternoon  refreshment,  doubtless 
envious  eyes  were  cast  upon  them.    Per- 


THE    STORY   OF   THE   SUN 


103 


haps  they  drank  to  "a  medical  gentle- 
man immediately  from  Scotland." 

THE    SECOND    INSTALMENT    OF    THE    HOAX 

Nearly  four  columns  of  the  revelations 
appeared  on  the  following  day — August 
26,  1835.  This  time  tlie  reading  public 
came  trooping  into  camp,  for  the  Sun's  re- 
print of  the  Journal  of  Science  supplement 
got  beyond  the  stage  of  preliminaries  and 
predictions,  and  began  to  tell  of  what  was 
to  be  seen  on  the  moon.  Scientists  and 
newspapermen  appreciated  the  detailed 
description  of  the  mammoth  telescope  and 
the  work  of  placing  it,  but  the  public, 
like  a  child,  wanted  the  moon — and  got 
it.  Let  us  plunge  in  at  about  the  point 
where  the  public  plunged: 

The  specimen  of  lunar  vegetation,  however, 
which  they  had  already  seen,  had  decided  a 
question  of  too  exciting  an  interest  to  induce 
them  to  retard  its  exit.  It  had  demonstrated 
that  the  moon  has  an  atmosphere  constituted 
similarly  to  our  own,  and  capable  of  sustaining 
organized  and,  therefore,  most  probably,  animal 
life. 

"  The  trees,"  says  Dr.  Grant,  "  for  a  period 
of  ten  minutes  were  of  one  unvaried  kind,  and 
unlike  any  I  have  seen  except  the  largest  class 
of  yews  in  the  English  churchyards,  which  they 
in  some  respects  resemble.  These  were  followed 
by  a  level  green  plain  which,  as  measured  by 
the  painted  circle  on  our  canvas  of  forty-nine 
feet,  must  have  been  more  than  half  a  mile 
in  breadth." 

The  article  had  explained  that,  by 
means  of  a  great  reflector,  the  lunar 
views  were  thrown  upon  a  big  canvas 
screen  behind  the  telescope. 

Then  appeared  as  fine  a  forest  of  firs,  un- 
equivocal firs,  as  I  have  ever  seen  cherished  in 
the  bosom  of  my  native  mountains,  Wearied 
with  the  long  continuance  of  these,  we  greatly 
reduced  the  magnifying  power  of  the  microscope 
without  eclipsing  either  of  the  reflectors,  and 
immediately  perceived  that  we  had  been  in- 
sensibly descending,  as  it  were,  a  mountainous 
district  of  highly  diversified  and  romantic  char- 
acter, and  that  we  were  on  the  verge  of  a  lake, 
or  inland  sea;  but  of  what  relative  locality  or 
extent,  we  were  yet  too  greatly  magnified  to 
determine. 

On  Introducing  the  feeblest  achromatic  lens 
we  possessed,  we  found  that  the  water,  whose 


boundary  we  had  just  discovered,  answered  in 
general  outline  to  the  Mare  Nvbicum  of  Riccoli. 
Fairer  shores  never  angel  coasted  on  a  tour  of 
pleasure.  A  beach  of  brilliant  white  sand,  girt 
with  wild,  castellated  rocks,  apparently  of  green 
marble,  varied  at  chasms,  occurring  every  two 
or  three  hundred  feet,  with  grotesque  blocks 
of  chalk  or  gypsum,  and  feathered  and  festooned 
at  the  summits  with  the  clustering  foliage  of 
unknown  trees,  moved  along  the  bright  wall  of 
our  apartment  until  we  were  speechless  with 
admiration. 

A  column  farther  on,  in  a  wonderful 
valley  of  this  wonderful  moon,  life  at  last 
burst  upon  the  seers: 

In  the  shade  of  the  woods  on  the  south- 
eastern side  we  beheld  continuous  herds  of 
brown  quadrupeds,  having  all  the  external  char- 
acteristics of  the  bison,  but  more  diminutive 
than  any  species  of  the  bos  genus  In  our  natural 
history.  Its  tail  was  like  tlaat  of  our  bos 
grunniens;  but  in  its  semicircular  horns,  the 
hump  on  its  shoulders,  the  depth  of  its  dewlap, 
and  the  length  of  its  shaggy  hair,  it  closely  re- 
sembled the  species  to  which  I  have  compared  It. 

It  had,  however,  one  widely  distinctive  fea- 
ture, which  we  afterward  found  common  to 
nearly  every  lunar  quadruped  we  have  dis- 
covered; namely,  a  remarkable  flesh}'  appendage 
over  the  eyes,  crossing  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
forehead  and  united  to  the  ears.  We  could 
most  distinctly  perceive  this  hairy  veil,  which 
was  shaped  like  the  upper  front  outline  of  the 
cap  known  to  the  ladles  as  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  cap,  lifted  and  lowered  by  means  of  the 
ears.  It  immediately  occurred  to  the  acute 
mind  of  Dr.  Herschel  that  this  was  a  provi- 
dential contrivance  to  protect  the  eyes  of  the 
animal  from  the  great  extremes  of  light  and 
darkness  to  which  all  the  inhabitants  of  our 
side  of  the  moon  are  periodically  subjected. 

The  next  animal  perceived  would  be  classed 
on  earth  as  a  monster.  It  was  of  a  bluish  lead 
color,  about  the  size  of  a  goat,  with  a  head 
and  beard  like  him,  and  a  single  horn,  slightly 
Inclined  forward  from  the  perpendicular.  The 
female  was  destitute  of  the  horn  and  beard, 
but  had  a  much  longer  tail.  It  was  gregarious, 
and  chiefly  abounded  on  the  accllvltous  glades 
of  the  woods.  In  elegance  of  symmetry  it 
rivaled  the  antelope,  and  like  him  it  seemed  an 
agile,  sprightly  creature,  running  with  great 
speed  and  springing  from  the  green  turf  with 
all  the  unaccountable  antics  of  the  young  Iamb 
or  kitten. 

This  beautiful  creature  afforded  us  the  most 
exquisite  amusement.  The  mimicry  of  its  move- 
ments upon  our  white-painted  canvas  was  as 
faithful  and  luminous  as  that  of  animals  within 
a  few   yards  of  a   camera   obscura  when  seen 


104 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


pictured  upon  its  tympan.  Frequently,  when 
attempting  to  -at  our  fingers  upon  its  beard, 
it  would  suddeiily  bound  away  into  oblivion, 
as  if  conscious  of  our  earthly  impertinence;  but 
then  others  would  appear,  whom  we  could  not 
prevent  nibbling  the  herbage,  say  or  do  what 
we  would  to  them. 

So,  at  last,  the  people  of  earth  knew 
something  concrete  about  the  live  things 
of  the  moon.  Goats  with  beards  were 
there,  and  every  New  Yorker  knew  goats, 
for  they  fed  upon  the  rocky  hills  of 
Harlem.    And  the  moon  had  birds,  too: 

On  examining  the  center  of  this  delightful 
valley  we  found  a  large,  branching  river, 
abounding  with  lovely  islands  and  water-birds 
of  numerous  kinds.  A  species  of  gray  pelican 
■was  the  most  numerous,  but  black  and  white 
cranes,  with  unreasonably  long  legs  and  bill, 
were  also  quite  common.  We  watched  their 
piscivorous  experiments  a  long  time  in  hopes 
of  catching  sight  of  a  lunar  fish;  but,  although 
we  were  not  gratified  in  this  respect,  we  could 
easily  guess  the  purpose  with  which  they 
plunged  their  long  necks  so  deeply  beneath  the 
water.  Near  the  upper  extremity  of  one  of 
these  islands  we  obtained  a  glimpse  of  a  strange 
amphibious  creature  of  a  spherical  form,  which 
rolled  with  great  velocity  across  the  pebbly 
beach,  and  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  strong  cur- 
rent which  set  off  from  this  angle  of  the  island. 

At  this  point  clouds  intervened,  and 
the  Herschel  party  had  to  call  it  a  day. 
But  it  had  been  a  big  day,  and  nobody 
who  read  the  Sun  wondered  that  the 
astronomers  tossed  off  "  congratulatory 
bumpers  of  the  best  '  East  India  par- 
ticular,' and  named  this  place  of  wonders 
the  Valley  of  the  Unicorn."  So  ended 
the  Sun  story  of  August  26,  but  an 
editorial  paragraph  assured  the  patrons 
of  the  paper  that  on  the  morrow  there 
would  be  a  treat  even  richer. 

THE   RECEPTION    OF   THE   HOAX 

What  did  the  other  papers  say?  In  the 
language  of  a  later  and  less  elegant 
period,  they  ate  it  up  —  some  eagerly, 
some  grudgingly,  some  a  bit  dubiously, 
but  they  ate  it,  either  in  crumbs  or  in 
hunks.     The  Daily  Advertiser  declared: 

No  article  has  appeared  for  years  that  will 
command  so  general  a  perusal  and  publication. 


Sir  John  has  added  a  stock  of  knowledge  to 
the  present  age  that  will  immortalize  his  name 
and  place  it  high  on  the  page  of  science. 

The  Mercantile  Advertiser,  knowing 
that  its  lofty  readers  were  unlikely  to 
see  the  moon  revelations  in  the  lowly 
Sun,  hastened  to  begin  reprinting  the 
articles  in  toto,  with  the  remark  that  the 
document  appeared  to  have  intrinsic  evi- 
dence of  authenticity. 

The  Times,  a  daily  then  only  a  year 
old,  and  destined  to  live  only  eighteen 
months  more — later,  of  course,  the  title 
was  used  by  a  successful  daily — said  that 
everything  in  the  Sun  story  was  probable 
and  plausible,  and  had  an  "  air  of  intense 
verisirnilitude." 

The  New  York  Sunday  News  advised 
the  incredulous  to  be  patient: 

Our  doubts  and  incredulity  may  be  a  wrong 
to  the  learned  astronomer,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  this  wonderful  discovery  may  be 
correct. 

The  Courier  and  Enquirer  said  nothing 
at  all.  Like  the  Journal  of  Commerce, 
it  hated  the  Sun  for  a  lucky  upstart. 
Both  of  these  sixpenny  respectables  stood 
silent,  with  their  axes  behind  their  backs. 
Their  own  readers,  the  Livingstons  and 
the  Stuyvesants,  got  not  a  line  about  the 
moon  from  the  blanket  sheets,  but  they 
sent  down  into  the  kitchen  and  borrowed 
the  Sun  from  the  domestics,  on  the 
shallow  pretext  of  wishing  to  discover 
whether  their  employees  were  reading  a 
moral  newspaper — as  indeed  they  were. 

The  Herald,  then  about  four  months 
old,  said  not  a  word  about  the  moon 
story.  In  fact,  that  was  a  period  in  which 
it  said  nothing  at  all  about  any  subject, 
for  the  fire  of  that  summer  had  unfortu- 
nately wiped  out  its  plant.  On  the  very 
days  when  the  'moon  stories  appeared, 
Mr.  Bennett  stood  cracking  his  knuckles 
in  front  of  his  new  establishment,  the 
basement  of  202  Broadway,  trying  to 
hurry  the  men  who  were  installing  a 
double-cylinder  press.  Being  a  wise  per- 
son, he  advertised  his  progress  in  the  Sun. 
It  may  have  vexed  him  to  see  the  circula- 


THE   STORY    OF   THE   SUN 


105 


tion  of  tlie  Sun — which  he  had  imitated 
in  character  and  price — bound  higher  and 
higher  as  he  stood  helpless. 

A  THIRD   BUDGET   OF   LUNAR   MARVELS 

The  third  instalment  of  the  literary 
treasure  so  obligingly  imported  by  the 
"  medical  gentleman  immediately  from 
Scotland  "  introduced  to  Sun  readers  new 
and  important  regions  of  the  moon — the 
Vagabond  Mountains,  the  Lake  of  Death, 
craters  of  extinct  volcanoes  twenty-eight 
hundred  feet  high,  and  twelve  luxuriant 
forests  divided  by  open  plains  "  in  which 
waved  an  ocean  of  verdure,  and  which 
were  probably  prairies  like  those  of  North 
America."    The  details  were  satisfying: 

Dr.  Herschel  has  classified  not  less  than 
thirty-eight  species  of  forest  trees  and  nearly 
twice  this  number  of  plants,  found  in  this  tract 
alone,  which  are  widely  different  to  those  found 
in  more  equatorial  latitudes.  Of  animals  he 
classified  nine  species  of  mammalia  and  five  of 
oviparia.  Among  the  former  is  a  small  kind 
of  reindeer,  the  elk,  the  moose,  the  horned 
bear,  and  the  biped  beaver. 

The  last  resembles  the  beaver  of  the  earth 
in  every  other  respect  than  its  destitution  of  a 
tail  and  its  invariable  habit  of  walking  upon 
only  two  feet.  It  carries  its  young  in  its  arms, 
like  a  human  being,  and  walks  with  an  easy, 
gliding  motion.  Its  huts  are  constructed  better 
and  higher  than  those  of  many  tribes  of  human 
savages,  and  from  the  appearance  of  smoke  in 
nearly  all  of  them  there  is  no  doubt  of  its 
being  acquainted  with  the  use  of  fire. 

The  largest  lake  described  was  two 
hundred  and  sixty-six  miles  long  and  one 
hundred  and  ninety-three  wide,  shaped 
like  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  studded  with 
volcanic  islands.  One  island  in  a  large 
bay  was  pinnacled  with  quartz  crystals 
as  brilliant  as  fire.  Near  by  roamed 
zebras  three  feet  high.  Golden  and  blue 
pheasants  strutted  about.  The  beach  was 
covered  with  shell-fish.  Dr.  Grant  did 
not  say  whether  the  fire-making  beavers 
ever  held  a  clambake  there. 

The  Sun  of  Friday,  August  28,  1835, 
was  a  notable  issue.  Not  yet  two  years 
old,  Mr.  Day's  newspaper  had  the  satis- 
faction of  announcing  that  it  had  achieved 
the  largest  circulation  of  any  daily  in  the 


world.  It  had,  it  said,  15,440  regular 
subscribers  in  New  York  and  700  in 
Brooklyn,  and  it  sold  2,000  in  the  streets 
and  1,220  out  of  town — a 'grand  total  of 
19,360  copies,  as  against  the  17,000  circu- 
lation of  the  London  Times.  The  double- 
cylinder  Napier  press  in  the  building  at 
Nassau  and  Spruce  Streets  —  the  corner 
where  the  Tribune  is  to-day,  and  to 
which  the  Sun  had  moved  on  August  3 — 
had  to  run  ten  hours  a  da}^  to  satisfy  the 
public  demand.  People  waited  with  more 
or  less  patience  until  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  to  read  about  the  moon. 

THE    FIRST    SIGHT    OF    THE    MAN-BATS 

That  very  issue  contained  the  most 
sensational  instalment  of  all  the  moon 
series,  for  through  that  mystic  chain 
which  included  Dr.  Grant,  the  supple- 
ment of  the  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science, 
the  "  medical  gentleman  immediately  from 
Scotland,"  and  the  Sun,  public  curiosity 
as  to  the  presence  of  human  creatures  on 
the  orb  of  night  was  satisfied  at  last.  The 
astronomers  were  looking  upon  the  cliffs 
and  crags  of  a  new  part  of  the  moon: 

But  whilst  gazing  upon  them  in  a  perspective 
of  about  half  a  mile,  we  were  thrilled  with 
astonishment  to  perceive  four  successive  flocks 
of  large  winged  creatures,  wholly  unlike  any 
kind  of  birds,  descend  with  a  slow,  even  motion 
from  the  cliffs  on  the  western  side  and  alight 
upon  the  plain.  They  were  first  noticed  by 
Dr.   Herschel,   who   exclaimed: 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  my  theories  against  your 
proofs,  which  you  have  often  found  a  pretty 
even  bet,  we  have  here  something  worth  look- 
ing at.  I  was  confident  that  if  ever  we  found 
beings  in  human  shape  it  would  be  in  this 
longitude,  and  that  they  would  be  provided 
by  their  Creator  with  some  extraordinary 
powers  of  locomotion.  First,  exchange  for  my 
Number  D." 

This  lens,  being  soon  introduced,  gave  us  a 
fine  half-mile  distance;  and  we  counted  three 
parties  of  these  creatures,  of  twelve,  nine,  and 
fifteen  in  each,  walking  erect  toward  a  small 
wood  near  the  base  of  the  eastern  precipices. 
Certainly  they  were  like  human  beings,  for 
their  wings  had  now  disappeared,  and  their 
attitude  in  walking  was  both  erect  and  dignified. 

Having  observed  them  at  this  distance  for 
some  minutes,  we  introduced  lens  H.z.,  which 
brought    them    to    the    apparent    proximity    of 


106 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


eighty  yards — the  highest  clear  magnitude  we 
possessed  until  the  latter  end  of  March,  when 
we  effected  an  improvement  in  the  gas  burners. 

About  half  of  the  first  party  had  passed 
beyond  our  cailvas;  but  of  all  the  others  we 
had  a  perfectly  distinct  and  deliberate  view. 
They  averaged  four  feet  in  height,  were  cov- 
ered, except  on  the  face,  with  short  and  glossy 
copper-colored  hair,  and  had  wings  composed 
of  a  thin  membrane,  without  hair,  lying  snugly 
upon  their  backs,  from  the  top  of  the  shoulders 
to  the  calves  of  the  legs. 

The  face,  which  was  of  a  yellowish  flesh- ' 
color,  was  a  slight  improvement  upon  that  of 
the  large  orang-utan,  being  more  open  and  in- 
telligent in  its  expression,  and  having  a  much 
greater  expanse  of  forehead.  The  mouth,  how- 
ever, was  very  prominent,  though  somewhat  re- 
lieved by  a  thick  beard  upon  the  lower  jaw, 
and  by  lips  far  more  human  than  those  of  any 
species  of  the  Simla  genus. 

In  general  symmetry  of  body  and  limbs  they 
were  infinitely  superior  to  the  orang-utan;  so 
much  so  that,  but  for  their  long  wings,  Lieu- 
tenant Drummond  said  they  would  look  as  well 
on  a  parade-ground  as  some  of  the  old  cockney 
militia.  The  hair  on  the  head  was  a  darker 
color  than  that  of  the  body,  closely  curled,  but 
apparently  not  woolly,  and  arranged  in  two 
curious  semicircles  over  the  temples  of  the  fore- 
head. Their  feet  could  only  be  seen  as  they 
were  alternately  lifted  in  walking;  but  from 
what  we  could  see  of  them  in  so  transient  a 
view,  they  appeared  thin  and  very  protuberant 
at  the  heel. 

Whilst  passing  across  the  canvas,  and  when- 
ever we  afterward  saw  them,  these  creatures 
were  evidently  engaged  in  conversation;  their 
gesticulation,  more  particularly  the  varied  action 
of  the  hands  and  arms,  appeared  impassioned 
and  emphatic.  We  hence  inferred  that  they 
were  rational  beings,  and,  although  not  per- 
haps of  so  high  an  order  as  others  which  we 
discovered  the  next  month  on  the  shores  of 
the  Bay  of  Rainbows,  that  they  were  capable 
of  producing  works  of  art  and  contrivance. 

The  next  view  we  obtained  of  them  was  still 
more  favorable.  It  was  on  the  borders  of  a 
little  lake,  or  expanded  stream,  which  we  then 
for  the  first  time  perceived  running  down  the 
valley  to  the  large  lake,  and  having  on  its 
eastern  margin  a  small  wood.  Some  of  these 
creatures  had  crossed  this  water  and  were  lying 
like  spread  eagles  on  the  skirts  of  the  wood. 

We  could  then  perceive  that  their  wings  pos- 
sessed great  expansion,  and  were  similar  in 
structure  to  those  of  the  bat,  being  a  semi- 
transparent  membrane  expanded  in  curvilineal 
divisions  by  means  of  straight  radii,  united 
at  the  back  by  the  dorsal  integuments.  But 
what  astonished  us  very  much  was  the  circum- 
stance of  this  membrane  being  continued  from 


the  shoulders  to  the  legs,  united  all  the  way 
down,  though  gradually  decreasing  in  width. 
The  wings  seemed  completely  under  the  com- 
mand of  volition,  for  those  of  the  creatures 
whom  we  saw  bathing  in  the  water  spread 
them  instantly  to  their  full  width,  waved  them 
as  ducks  do  theirs  to  shake  off  the  water,  and 
then  as  instantly  closed  them  again  in  a  com- 
pact form. 

Our  further  observation  of  the  habits  of  these 
creatures,  who  were  of  both  sexes,  led  to  results 
so  very  remarkable  that  I  prefer  they  should 
be  first  laid  before  the  public  in  Dr.  Herschel's 
own  work,  where  I  have  reason  to  know  that 
they  are  fully  and  faithfully  stated,  however 
Incredulously  thej'  may  be  received.     .     .     ■. 

The  three  families  then  almost  simultaneously 
spread  their  wings,  and  were  lost  in  the  dark 
confines  of  the  canvas  before  we  had  time  to 
breathe  from  our  paralyzing  astonishment.  We 
scientifically  denominated  them  the  vespertilio- 
iiomo,  or  man-bat;  and  they  are  doubtless  in- 
nocent and  happy  creatures,  notwithstanding 
some  of  their  amusements  would  but  ill  com- 
port with  our  terrestrial  notions  of  decorum. 

So  ended  the  account,  in  Dr.  Grant's 
words,  of  that  fateful  day.  The  editor 
of  the  supplement,  perhaps  a  cousin  of 
the  ''  medical  gentleman  immediately  ar- 
rived from  Scotland,"  added  that  although 
he  had  of  course  faithfully  obeyed  Dr. 
Grant's  injunction  to  omit  "  these  highly 
curious  passages,"  he  did  not  "  clearly 
perceive  the  force  of  the  reasons  assigned 
for  it,"  and  he  added: 

From  these,  however,  and  other  prohibited 
passages,  which  will  be  published  by  Dr.  Her- 
schel  with  the  certificates  of  the  civil  and  mil- 
itary authorities  of  the  colony,  and  of  several 
Episcopal,  Wesleyan,  and  other  ministers  who, 
in  the  month  of  March  last,  were  permitted 
under  the  stipulation  of  temporary  secrecy  to 
visit  the  observatory  and  become  eye-witnesses 
of  the  wonders  which  they  were  requested  to 
attest,  we  are  confident  his  forthcoming  vol- 
umes will  be  at  once  the  most  sublime  in  science 
and  the  most  intense  in  general  interest  that 
ever  issued  from  the  press. 

New  York  now  stopped  about  all  dis- 
cussion of  human  slaver}^,  the  high  cost 
of  living  —  apples  cost  as  much  as  four 
cents  apiece  in  Wall  Street  —  and  other 
familiar  topics,  and  devoted  its  talking 
hours  to  the  man-bats  of  the  moon.  The 
Sun  was  stormed  by  people  who  wanted 
back  numbers  of  the  stories,  and  flooded 


THE  STORY  OF  THE   SUN 


107 


with  demands  by  mail.  As  the  text  of 
the  Journal  of  Science  article  indicated 
that  the  original  narrative  had  been 
illustrated,  there  was  a  cry  for  pictures. 

Mr.  Day  was  busy  with  the  paper  and 
its  overworked  press,  but  he  gave  Mr. 
Locke  a  free  hand,  and  that  scholar  took 
to  Norris  &  Baker,  lithographers,  in  the 
Union  Building,  Wall  Street,  the  drawings 
which  had  been  entrusted  to  his  care  by 
the  "  medical  gentleman  immediately 
from  Scotland."  Mr.  Baker,  described  by 
the  Sun  as  quite  the  most  talented  htho- 
graphic  artist  of  the  city,  worked  day  and 
night  on  his  deHghtful  task,  that  the 
illustrations  might  be  ready  when  the 
Sun's  press  should  have  turned  out,  in  the 
hours  when  it  was  not  printing  Suns, 
a  pamphlet  containing  the  astronomical 
discoveries. 

"  Dr.  Herschel's  great  work,"  said  the 
Sun,  "  is  preparing  for  publication  at  ten 
guineas  sterling,  or  fifty  dollars;  and  we 
shall  give  all  the  popular  substance  of 
it  for  twelve  or  thirteen  cents."  The 
pamphlets  were  to  be  sold  two  for  a 
quarter;  the  Hthographs  at  twenty-five 
cents  for  the  set. 

Most  newspapers  that  mentioned  the 
discovery  of  human  creatures  on  the 
moon  were  credulous.  The  Evening  Post, 
edited  by  William  Cullen  Bryant  and 
Fitz  -  Greene  Halleck  —  "the  chanting 
cherubs  of  the  Post,"  as  Colonel  Webb 
was  wont  to  call  them — only  skirted  the 
edge  of  doubt: 

That  there  should  be  winged  people  in  the 
moon  does  not  strike  us  as  more  wonderful 
than  the  existence  of  such  a  race  of  beings  on 
earth;  and  that  there  does  or  did  exist  such 
a  race  rests  on  the  evidence  of  that  most  vera- 
cious of  voyagers,  Peter  Wilkins,  whose  cele- 
brated work  not  only  gives  an  account  of  the 
general  appearance  and  habits  of  a  most  inter- 
esting tribe  of  flying  Indians,  but  also  of  those 
more  delicate  and  engaging  traits  which  the 
author  was  enabled  to  discover  by  reason  of  the 
conjugal  relations  he  entered  into  with  one  of 
the  females  of  the  winged  tribe. 

Peter  Wilkins  was  the  hero  of  Robert 
Paltock's   imaginative   book,    "  The   Life 


and  Adventures  of  Peter  Wilkins,  a 
Cornish  Man,"  published  in  London  in 
1750.  Paltock's  winged  people,  said 
Southey,  were  "  the  most  beautiful  crea- 
tures of  imagination  that  were  ever 
devised." 

THE    WONDROUS    TEMPLE    OF    THE    MOON 

The  instalment  of  the  discoveries 
printed  on  August  29  revealed  to  the 
reader  the  great  Temple  of  the  Moon, 
built  of  poHshed  sapphire,  with  a  roof  of 
some  yellow  metal,  supported  by  columns 
seventy  feet  high  and  six  feet  in  diameter: 

It  was  open  on  all  sides,  and  seemed  to  con- 
tain neither  seats,  altars,  nor  offerings,  but  it 
was  a  light  and  airy  structure,  nearly  a  hun- 
dred feet  high  from  its  white,  glistening  floor 
to  the  glowing  roof,  and  it  stood  upon  a  round, 
green  eminence  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
valley.  We  afterward,  however,  discovered  two 
others  which  were  in  every  respect  facsimiles 
of  this  one;  but  in  neither  did  we  perceive 
any  visitants  except  flocks  of  wild  doves,  which 
alighted  on  its  lustrous  pinnacles. 

Had  the  devotees  of  these  temples  gone  the 
way  of  all  living,  or  were  the  latter  merely 
historical  monuments?  What  did  the  ingenious 
builders  mean  by  the  globe  surrounded  with 
flames?  Did  they,  by  this,  record  any  past 
calamity  of  their  world,  or  predict  any  future 
one  of  ours?,  I  by  no  means  despair  of  ulti- 
mately solving  not  only  these,  but  a  thousand 
other  questions  which  present  themselves  re- 
specting the  object  in  this  planet;  for  not  the 
millionth  part  of  her  surface  has  yet  been  ex- 
plored, and  we  have  been  more  desirous  of 
coflecting  the  greatest  possible  number  of  new 
facts  than  of  indulging  in  speculative  theories, 
however  seductive  to  the  imagination. 

The  conclusion  of  this  astounding 
narrative,  which  totaled  eleven  thousand 
words,  was  printed  on  August  31.  In  the 
valley  of  the  temple  a  new  set  of  man- 
bats  was  found: 

We  had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  them 
actually  engaged  in  any  work  of  industry  or 
art;  and,  so  far  as  we  could  judge,  they  spent 
their  happy  hours  in  collecting  various  fruits 
in  the  woods,  in  eating,  flying,  bathing,  and 
loitering  about  upon  the  summits  of  precipices. 

One  night,  when  the  astronomers  fin- 
ished  work,    they    neglectfully   left    the 


108 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


telescope  in  a  perpendicular  position. 
The  risen  sun  burned  a  hole  fifteen  feet 
in  circumference  through  the  reflecting 
chamber,  and  ruined  part  of  the  obser- 
vatory. When  the  damage  was  repaired, 
the  moon  was  invisible,  and  so  Dr. 
Herschel  turned  his  attention  to  Saturn. 
Much  of  the  discoveries  here  were  tech- 
nical, as  the  Sun  assured  its  readers,  and 
the  narrative  came  to  an  end.  An  editorial 
note  added: 

This  concludes  the  supplement  with  the  ex- 
ception of  forty  pages  of  illustrative  and  mathe- 
matical notes,  which  would  greatly  enhance  the 
size  and  price  of  this  work  without  commensur- 
ably  adding  to  its  general  interest.  In  order 
that  our  readers  may  judge  for  themselves 
whether  we  have  withheld  from  them  any 
matter  of  general  comprehension  and  interest, 
we  insert  one  of  the  notes  from  those  pages 
of  the  supplement  which  we  thought  it  useless 
to  reprint;  and  it  may  be  considered  a  fair 
sample  of  the  remainder.  For  ourselves,  we 
know  nothing  of  mathematics  beyond  counting 
dollars  and  cents,  but  to  geometricians  the 
following  new  method  of  measuring  the  height 
of  the  lunar  mountains,  adopted  by  Sir  John 
Herschel,  may  be  quite  interesting. 

BAFFLED    TRUTH-SEEKERS    FROM    YALE 

Perhaps  the  pretended  method  of 
measuring  lunar  mountains  was  not  in- 
teresting to  laymen,  but  it  may  have 
been  the  cause  of  an  intellectual  tumult 
at  Yale.  At  all  events,  a  deputation  from 
that  college  hurried  to  the  steamboat  and 
came  to  New  York  to  see  the  wonderful 
supplement.  The  collegians  saw  Mr. 
Day,  and  voiced  their  desire. 

"  Surely,"  he  replied,  "  you  do  not 
doubt  that  we  have  the  supplement  in 
our  possession?  I  suppose  the  magazine 
is  somewhere  up-stairs,  but  I  consider  it 
almost  an  insult  that  you  should  ask  to 
see  it." 

On  their  way  out  the  Yale  men  heard, 
perhaps  from  the  "  devil,"  that  one  Locke 
was  interested  in  the  matter  of  the  moon, 
that  he  had  handled  the  supplement,  and 
that  he  was  to  be  seen  at  the  foot  of  the 
stairs,  smoking  his  cigar  and  gazing  across 
City  Hall  Park.  They  advanced  upon 
him,  and  he,  less  brusk  than  Mr.  Day, 


told  the  scientific  pilgrims  that  the  sup- 
plement was  in  the  hands  of  a  printer  in 
William  Street  —  giving  the  name  and 
address. 

As  the  Yale  men  disappeared  in  the 
direction  of  the  printery,  Locke  started 
for  the  same  goal,  and  more  rapidly. 
When  the  Yalensians  arrived,  the  printer, 
primed  by  Locke,  told  them  that  the 
precious  pamphlet  had  just  been  sent  to 
another  shop,  where  certain  proof-reading 
was  to  be  done.  And  so  they  went  from 
post  to  pillar  until  the  hour  came  for 
their  return  to  New  Haven.  It  would 
not  do  to  linger  in  New  York,  for  Pro- 
fessors Denison  Olmsted  and  Elias  Loomis 
were  that  very  day  getting  their  first 
peep  at  Halley's  comet,  about  to  make 
the  regular  appearance  with  which  it 
favors  the  earth  every  seventy-six  years. 

But  Yale  was  not  the  only  part  of 
intellectual  New  England  to  be  deeply 
interested  in  the  moon  and  its  bat-men. 
The  Gazette  of  Hampshire,  Massachu- 
setts, insisted  that  Edward  Everett,  who 
was  then  running  for  Governor,  had  these 
astronomical  discoveries  in  mind  when 
he  declared  that  "  we  know  not  how  soon 
the  mind,  in  its  researches  into  the 
labyrinth  of  nature,  would  grasp  some 
clue  which  would  lead  to  a  new  universe 
and  change  the  aspect  of  the  world." 

Harriet  Martineau,  who  was  touring 
America  at  the  time,  wrote  in  her 
"  Sketches  of  Western  Travel  "  that  the 
ladies  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  sub- 
scribed to  a  fund  to  send  missionaries  to 
the  benighted  luminary.  When  the  Sun 
articles  reached  Paris,  they  were  at  once 
translated  into  illustrated  pamphlets,  and 
the  caricaturists  of  the  Paris  newspapers 
drew  pictures  of  the  man-bats  going 
through  the  streets  singing  "  Au  Clair 
de  la  Ltine."  London,  Edinburgh,  and 
Glasgow  made  haste  to  issue  editions  of 
the  work. 

Meanwhile,  of  course,  Sir  John  Her- 
schel was  busy  with  his  telescope  at  the 
Cape,  all  unaware  of  his  expanded  fame 
in  the  north,  Caleb  Weeks,  of  Jamaica, 
Long  Island,  the  Adam  Forepaugh  of  his 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   SUN 


109 


day,  was  setting  out  for  South  Africa  to 
get  a  supply  of  giraffes  for  his  menagerie, 
and  he  had  the  honor  of  laying  in  the 
great  astronomer's  hand  a  clean  copy  of 
the  pamphlet.  To  say  that  Sir  John  was 
amazed  at  the  Sun's  enterprise  would  be 
putting  it  mildty.  When  he  had  read  the 
story  through,  he  went  to  Caleb  Weeks 
and  said  that  he  was  overcome;  that  he 
never  could  hope  to  live  up  to  the  fame 
that  had  been  heaped  upon  him. 

HOW    THE    SECRET    LEAKED    OUT 

In  New  York,  meanwhile,  Richard 
Adams  Locke  had  spilled  the  beans. 
There  was  a  reporter  named  Finn,  once 
employed  by  the  Sun,  but  later  a  scribe 
for  the  Journal  of  Commerce.  He  and 
Locke  were  friends.  One  afternoon 
Gerard  Hallock,  who  was  David  Hale's 
partner  in  the  proprietorship  of  the 
Journal  of  Commerce,  called  Finn  to  his 
office  and  told  him  to  get  extra  copies 
of  the  Sun  containing  the  moon  story, 
as  the  Journal  had  decided,  in  justice 
to  its  readers,  that  it  must  reprint  it. 

Perhaps  at  the  Sun  office,  perhaps  in 
the  tap-room  of  the  Washington  Hotel, 
Finn  met  Locke,  and  they  went  socially 
about  to  public  places.  Finn  told  Locke 
of  the  work  on  which  he  was  engaged, 
and  said  that,  as  the  moon  story  was 
already  being  put  into  type  at  the  Journal 
office,  it  was  likely  that  it  would  be 
printed  on  the  morrow. 

"  Don't  print  it  right  away,"  said 
Locke.     "  I  wrote  it  myself." 

The  next  day  the  Journal,  instead  of 
being  silently  grateful  for  the  warning, 
denounced  the  alleged  discoveries  as  a 
hoax.  Mr.  Bennett,  who  by  this  time 
had  the  Herald  once  more  in  running 
order,  not  only  cried  ''Hoax!"  but 
named  Locke  as  the  author. 

Probably  Locke  was  glad  that  the 
suspense  was  over.  He  is  said  to  have 
told  a  friend  that  he  had  not  intended 
the  story  as  a  hoax,  but  as  satire. 

"  It  is  quite  evident,"  he  said,  as  he 
saw  the  whole  country  take  the  marvelous 
narrative  seriously,  "  that  it  is  an  abortive 


satire;    and   I   am   the   best   self-hoaxed 
man  in  the  whole  community." 

But  while  the  Sun's  rivals  denounced 
the  hoax,  the  Sun  was  not  quick  to  admit 
that  it  had  gulled  not  only  its  own 
readers  but  almost  all  the  scientific  world. 
Barring  the  casual  conversation  between 
Locke  and  Finn,  there  was  no  evidence 
plain  enough  to  convince  the  layman  that 
it  was  a  hoax.  The  Sun  fenced  lightly 
and  skilfully  with  all  controverters.  On 
September  i6,  more  than  two  weeks  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  story,  it  printed  a 
long  editorial  article  on  the  subject  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  discoveries,  men- 
tioning the  wide-spread  interest  that  had 
been  displayed  in  them: 

Most  of  those  who  incredulously  regard  the 
whole  narrative  as  a  hoax  are  generously  enthu- 
siastic in  panegyrizing  not  only  what  they  are 
pleased  to  denominate  its  ingenuity  and  talent, 
but  also  its  useful  effect  in  diverting  the  public 
mind,  for  a  while,  from  that  bitter  apple  of 
discord,  the  abolition  of  slavery,  which  still 
unhappily  threatens  to  turn  the  milk  of  human 
kindness  into  rancorous  gall.  That  the  astro- 
nomical discoveries  have  had  this  effect  is 
obvious  from  our  exchange  papers.  Who  knows, 
therefore,  whether  these  discoveries  in  the  moon, 
with  the  visions  of  the  blissful  harmony  of 
her  inhabitants  which  they  have  revealed,  may 
not  have  had  the  effect  of  reproving  the  discords 
of  a  country  which  might  be  happy  as  a  para- 
dise, which  has  valleys  not  less  lovely  than 
those  of  the  Ruby  Colosseum,  of  the  Unicorn, 
or  of  the  Triads;  and  which  has  not  inferior 
facilities  for  social  intercourse  to  those  possessed 
by  the  vespertiliones-homines,  or  any  other 
homines  whatever? 

Some  persons  of  little  faith  but  great  good 
nature,  who  consider  the  "  moon  story,"  as  it 
is  vulgarly  called,  an  adroit  fiction  of  our  own, 
are  quite  of  the  opinion  that  this  was  the 
amiable  moral  which  the  writer  had  in  view. 
Other  readers,  however,  construe  the  whole  as 
an  elaborate  satire  upon  the  monstrous  fabrica- 
tions of  the  political  press  of  the  country  and 
the  various  genera  and  species  of  its  party 
editors.  In  the  blue  goat  with  the  single  horn, 
mentioned  as  it  is  in  connexion  with  the  royal 
arms  of  England,  many  persons  fancy  they 
perceive  the  characteristics  of  a  notorious  for- 
eigner who  is  the  supervising  editor  of  one  of 
our  largest  morning  papers. 

We  confess  that  this  idea  of  intended  satire 
somewhat  shook  our  own  faith  in  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  extracts  from  the  Edinburgh  Journal 


110 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


of  Science  with  which  a  gentleman  connected 
with  our  office  furnished  us  as  "  from  a  medical 
gentleman  immediately  from  Scotland." 

Certain  correspondents  have  been  urging  us 
to  come  out  and  confess  the  Vs^hole  to  be  a 
hoax;  but  this  we  can  by  no  means  do  until 
we  have  the  testimony  of  the  English  or  Scotch 
papers  to  corroborate  such  a  declaration.  In 
the  mean  time  let  every  reader  of  the  account 
examine  it  and  enjoy  his  own  opinion.  Many 
intelligent  and  scientific  persons  will  believe  it 
true,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  to  their  lives' 
end;  whilst  the  skepticism  of  others  would  not 
be  removed  though  they  were  in  Dr.  Herschel's 
observatory  itself. 

THE    MOON   HOAX    ON    THE    STAGE 

The  New  York  showmen  of  that  day 
were  keen  for  novelty,  and  the  moon 
story  helped  them  to  it.  Mr.  Hannington, 
who  ran  the  diorama  in  the  City  Saloon 
■ — which  was  not  a  barroom,  but  an 
amusement  house — on  Broadway  opposite 
St.  Paul's  Church,  put  on  "  The  Lunar 
Discoveries;  a  Brilliant  Illustration  of  the 
Scientific  Observation  of  the  Surface  of 
the  Moon,  to  Which  Will  Be  Added  the 
Reported  Lunar  Observations  of  Sir  John 
Herschel."  Hannington  had  been  show- 
ing "  The  Deluge  "  and  "  The  Burning 
of  Moscow,"  but  the  wonders  of  the  moon 
proved  to  be  far  more  attractive  to  his 
patrons.  The  Sun  approved  of  this  moral 
spectacle: 

Hannington  forever  and  still  years  afterward, 
say  we !  His  panorama  of  the  lunar  discoveries, 
in  connexion  with  the  beautiful  dioramas,  are 
far  superior  to  any  other  exhibition  in  this 
country. 

Not  less  popular  than  Hannington's 
panorama  was  an  extravaganza  put  on  by 
Thomas  Hamblin  at  the  Bowery  Theater, 
and  called  "  Moonshine,  or  Lunar  Dis- 
coveries." A  Sun  man  went  to  review  it, 
and  had  to  stand  up;  but  he  was  patient 
enough  to  stay,  and  he  wrote  this  about 
the  show: 

It  is  quite  evident  that  Hamblin  does  not 
believe  a  word  of  the  whole  story,  or  he  would 
never  have  taken  the  liberties  with  it  which 
he  has.  The  wings  of  the  man-bats  and  lady- 
bats,  who  are  of  an  orange  color  and  look  like 
angels  in  the  jaimdice,  are  well  contrived  for 


effect;  and  the  dialogue  is  highly  witty  and 
pungent.  Major  Jack  Downing's  blowing  up 
a  whole  flock  of  winged  lunarians  with  a  com- 
bustible bundle  of  Abolition  tracts,  after  vainly 
endeavoring  to  catch  a  long  aim  at  them  with 
his  rifle,  is  capital;  as  are  also  his  puns  and 
jokes  upon  the  splendid  scenery  of  the  Ruby 
Colosseum.  Take  it  altogether,  it  is  the  most 
amusing  thing  that  has  been  on  these  boards 
for  a  long  time. 

Thus  the  moon  eclipsed  the  regular 
stars  of  the  New  York  stage.  Even  Mrs. 
Duff,  the  most  pathetic  Isabella  that  ever 
appeared  in  "  The  Fatal  Marriage,"  saw 
her  audiences  thin  out  at  the  Franklin 
Theater.  Sol  Smith's  drolleries  in  "  The 
Lying  Valet,"  at  the  Park  Theater,  could 
not  rouse  the  laughter  that  the  burlesque 
man-bats  caused  at  the  Bowery. 

POE  AND   LOCKE — A   CURIOUS  PARALLEL 

All  this  time  there  was  a  disappointed 
man  in  Baltimore;  disappointed  because 
the  moon  stories  had  caused  him  to  aban- 
don one  of  the  most  ambitious  stories  he 
had  attempted.  This  was  Edgar  Allan 
Poe,  and  the  story  he  dropped  was  ''  Hans 
Pfaall." 

In  the  spring  of  1835  the  Harpers 
issued  an  edition  of  Sir  John  Herschel's 
"  Treatise  on  Astronomy,"  and  Poe,  who 
read  it,  was  deeply  interested  in  the 
chapter  on  the  possibility  of  future  lunar 
investigations : 

The  theme  excited  my  fancy,  and  I  longed 
to  give  free  rein  to  it  in  depicting  my  day- 
dreams about  the  scenery  of  the  moon;  in 
short,  I  longed  to  write  a  story  embodying 
these  dreams.  The  obvious  difficulty,  of  course, 
was  that  of  accounting  for  the  narrator's  ac- 
quaintance with  the  satellite;  and  the  equally 
obvious  mode  of  surmounting  the  difficulty  was 
the  supposition  of  an  extraordinary  telescope. 

Poe  spoke  of  this  ambition  to  John 
Pendleton  Kennedy,  of  Baltimore,  already 
the  author  of  "  Swallow  Bam,"  and  later 
to  have  the  honor  of  writing,  as  the  result 
of  a  jest  by  Thackeray,  the  fourth  chapter 
of  the  second  volume  of  "■  The  Vir- 
ginians." Kennedy  assured  Poe  that  the 
mechanics  of  telescope  construction  were 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SUN 


111 


so  fixed  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
impart  verisimilitude  to  a  tale  based  on  a 
superefficient  telescope.  So  Poe  resorted 
to  other  means  of  bringing  the  moon 
close  to  tlie  reader's  eye: 

I  fell  back  upon  a  style  half  plausible,  half 
bantering,  and  resolved  to  give  what  interest  I 
could  to  an  actual  passage  from  the  earth  to 
the  moon,  describing  the  lunar  scenery  as  if 
surveyed  and  personally  examined  by  the 
narrator. 

Poe  wrote  the  first  part  of  "Hans 
Pfaall,"  and  published  it  in  the  Southern 
Literary  Messenger,  of  which  he  was  then 
editor,  at  Richmond,  Virginia.  Three 
weeks  afterward  the  first  instalment  of 
Locke's  moon  story  appeared  in  the  Sun. 
At  the  moment  Poe  believed  that  his 
idea  had  been  kidnaped : 

No  sooner  had  I  seen  the  paper  than  I  under- 
stood the  jest,  which  not  for  a  moment  could 
I  doubt  had  been  suggested  by  my  own  jeu 
d'esprit.  Some  of  the  New  York  journals — 
the  Transcript,  among  others — saw  the  matter 
in  the  same  light,  and  published  the  moon 
story  side  by  side  with  "  Hans  Pfaall,"  think- 
ing that  the  author  of  the  one  had  been  de- 
tected in  the  author  of  the  other. 

Although  the  details  are,  with  some  excep- 
tions, very  dissimilar,  still  I  maintain  that  the 
general  features  of  the  two  compositions  are 
nearly  identical.  Both  are  hoaxes — although  one 
is  in  a  tone  of  mere  banter,  the  other  of  down- 
right earnest;  both  hoaxes  are  on  one  subject, 
astronomy;  both  on  the  same  point  of  that 
subject,  the  moon;  both  professed  to  have  de- 
rived exclusive  information  from  a  foreign 
country;  and  both  attempt  to  give  plausibly  by 
minuteness  of  scientific  detail.  Add  to  all  this, 
that  nothing  of  a  similar  nature  had  ever  been 
attempted  before  these  two  hoaxes,  the  one  of 
which  followed  immediately  upon  the  heels  of 
the  other. 

Having  stated  the  case,  however,  in  this  form, 
I  am  bound  to  do  Mr.  Locke  the  justice  to 
say  that  he  denies  having  seen  my  article  prior 
to  the  publication  of  his  own;  I  am  bound 
to  add,  also,  that  I  believe  him. 

Nor  can  any  unbiased  person  who 
reads,  for  purpose  of  comparison,  the 
"  Astronomical  Discoveries  "  and  "  Hans 
Pfaall "  suspect  that  Locke  based  his 
hoax  on  the  story  of  the  Rotterdam 
debtor  who  blew  his  creditors  to  bits  and 


sailed  to  the  moon  in  a  balloon.  Chalk 
and  cheese  are  much  more  alike  than 
these  two  products  of  genius. 

Poe  may  have  intended  to  fall  back 
upon  "  a  style  half  plausible,  half  banter- 
ing," as  he  described  it,  but  there  is  not 
the  slightest  plausibility  about  "  Hans 
Pfaall."  It  is  as  near  to  humor  as  the 
great,  dark  mind  could  get.  "  Mere 
banter,"  as  he  later  described  it,  is  better. 
The  very  episode  of  the  dripping  pitcher 
of  water,  used  to  wake  Hans  at  an  alti- 
tude where  even  alcohol  would  freeze,  is 
enough  proof,  if  proof  at  all  were  neces- 
sary, to  strip  the  tale  of  its  last  shred  of 
verisimilitude.  No  child  of  twelve  would 
believe  in  Hans,  while  Locke's  fictitious 
"  Dr.  Grant  "  deceived  nine-tenths  —  the 
estimate  is  Poe's — of  those  who  read  the 
narrative  of  the  great  doings  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope. 

Locke  had  spoiled  a  promising  tale  for 
Poe — who  tore  up  the  second  instalment 
of  "  Hans  Pfaall  "  when  he  "  found  that 
he  could  add  very  little  to  the  minute  and 
authentic  account  of  Sir  John  Herschel  " 
— but  the  poet  took  pleasure,  in  later 
years,  in  picking  the  Sun's  moon  story 
to  bits. 

"  That  the  public  were  misled,  even  for 
an  instant,"  Poe  declared  in  his  critical 
essay  on  Locke's  writings,  "merely  proves 
the  gross  ignorance  which,  ten  or  twelve 
years  ago,  was  so  prevalent  on  astro- 
nomical topics." 

According  to  Locke's  own  description 
of  the  telescope,  said  Poe,  it  could  not 
have  brought  the  moon  nearer  than  five 
miles;  yet  Sir  John — Locke's  Sir  John — 
saw  flowers  and  described  the  eyes  of 
birds.  Locke  had  an  ocean  on  the  moon, 
although  it  had  been  established  beyond 
question  that  the  visible  side  of  the  moon 
is  dry.  The  most  ridiculous  thing  about 
the  moon  story,  said  Poe,  was  that  the 
narrator  described  the  entire  bodies  of 
the  man-bats,  whereas,  if  they  were  seen 
at  all  by  an  observer  on  the  earth,  they 
would  manifestly  appear  as  if  walking 
heels  up  and  head  down,  after  the  fash- 
ion of  flies  on  a  ceiling. 


112 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


And  yet  the  hoax,  Poe  admits,  "  was, 
upon  the  whole,  the  greatest  hit  in  the 
way  of  sensation  —  of  merely  popular 
sensation  —  ever  made  by  any  similar 
fiction  either  in  America  or  Europe." 
Whether  Locke  intended  it  as  satire  or 
not  —  a  debatable  point  —  it  was  a  hoax 
of  the  first  water.  It  deceived  more  per- 
sons, and  for  a  longer  time,  than  any 
other  fake  ever  written;  and,  as  the  Stm 
pointed  out,  it  hurt  nobody — except,  per- 
haps, the  feelings  of  Dr.  Dick,  of  Dundee 
— and  it  took  the  public  mind  away  from 
less  agreeable  matters.  Some  of  the 
wounded  scientists  roared,  but  the  public, 
particularly  the  New  York  public,  took 
the  exposure  of  Locke's  literary  villainy 
just  as  Sir  John  Herschel  accepted  it — 
with  a  grin. 

EARLIER   SUGGESTIONS   OF    THE   STORY 

As  for  the  inspiration  of  the  moon 
story,  the  record  is  nebulous.  If  Poe  was 
really  grieved  at  his  first  thought  that 
Locke  had  taken  from  him  the  main 
imaginative  idea — that  the  moon  was  in- 
habited— then  Poe  was  oversensitive  or 
uninformed,  for  that  idea  was  at  least 
two  centuries  old. 

Francis  Godwin,  an  English  bishop  and 
author,  who  was  born  in  1562,  and  who 
died  just  two  centuries  before  the  Stm 
was  first  printed,  wrote  "  The  Man  in 
the  Moone,  or  a  Discourse  of  a  Voyage 
Thither  by  Domingo  Gonsales,  the  Speedy 
Messenger."  This  was  published  in 
London  in  1638,  three  years  after  the 
author's  death. 

In  the  same  year  there  appeared  a 
book  called  "  The  Discovery  of  a  World 
in  the  Moone,"  which  contained  argu- 
ments to  prove  the  moon  habitable.  It 
was  Avritten  by  John  Wilkins  —  no  rela- 
tive of  the  fictitious  Peter  of  Paltock's 
story,  but  a  young  English  clergyman 
who  later  became  Bishop  of  Chester,  and 
who  was  the  first  secretary  of  the  Royal 
Society.  Two  years  later  Wilkins  added 
to  his  "  Discovery  of  a  World  "  a  "  Dis- 
course Concernmg  the  Possibility  of  a 
Passage  Thither." 


Cyrano  de  Bergerac,  he  of  the  long 
nose  and  the  passion  for  poetry  and  duel- 
ing, later  to  be  immortalized  by  Rostand, 
read  these  products  of  two  Englishmen's 
fancy,  and  about  1650  he  turned  out  his 
joyful  "  Histoire  Comique  des  Etats  et 
Empires  de  la  Lune."  But  Bergerac  had 
also  been  influenced  by  Dante  and  by 
Lucian,  the  latter  being  the  supposed  in- 
spiration of  the  fanciful  narratives  of 
Rabelais  and  Swift.  Perhaps  these  writers 
influenced  Godwin  and  Wilkins  also;  so 
the  trail,  zigzagged  and  ramifying,  goes 
back  to  the  second  century.  It  is  hard 
to  indict  a  man  for  being  inspired,  and 
in  the  case  of  the  moon  story  there  is  no 
evidence  of  plagiarism.  If  "  Hans  Pfaall  " 
were  to  be  compared  with  Locke's  story 
for  hoaxing  qualities,  it  would  only  suffer 
by  the  comparison.  It  would  appear  as 
the  youthful  product  of  a  tyro,  as  against 
the  cunning  work  of  an  artist  of  almost 
devilish  ingenuity. 

Is  there  any  doubt  that  the  moon  hoax 
was  the  sole  work  of  Richard  Adams 
Locke?  So  far  as  concerns  the  record  of 
the  Sun,  the  comments  of  Locke's  Ameri- 
can contemporaries,  and  the  belief  of 
Benjamin  H.  Day,  expressed  in  1883  in 
a  talk  with  Edward  P.  Mitchell,  the 
answer  must  be  in  the  negative.  Yet  it 
must  be  set  down,  as  a  literary  curiosity 
at  least,  that  it  has  been  believed  in 
France  and  by  at  least  one  English  an- 
tiquary of  repute  that  tlie  moon  hoax 
was  the  work  of  a  Frenchman  —  Jean 
Nicolas  Nicollet,  the  astronomer. 

THE  CAREER  OF  JEAN  NICOLLET 

Nicollet  was  born  at  Cluses,  in  Savoy, 
in  1786.  First  a  cowherd,  he  did  not 
learn  to  read  until  he  was  twelve.  Once 
at  school  his  progress  was  rapid,  and  at 
nineteen  he  became  preceptor  of  mathe- 
matics at  Chambry.  He  went  to  Paris, 
where  in  181 7  he  was  appointed  secre- 
tary-librarian of  the  Observatory,  and  he 
studied  astronomy  with  Laplace,  who 
refers  to  Nicollet's  assistance  in  his  works. 
In  1823  he  was  appointed  to  the  govern- 
ment bureau  of  longitudes,  and  at  the 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SUN 


113 


same  time  was  professor  of  mathematics 
in  the  College  of  Louis  le  Grand. 

He  became  a  master  of  English,  and 
through  this  knowledge  and  his  own 
mathematical  genius  he  was  able  to  as- 
semble, for  the  use  of  the  French  life- 
insurance  companies,  all  that  was  known, 
and  much  that  he  himself  discovered,  of 
actuarial  methods;  this  being  incorporated 
in  his  letter  to  M.  Outrequin  on  "  As- 
surances Having  for  Their  Basis  the 
Probable  Duration  of  Human  Life."  He 
also  wrote  "  Memoirs  upon  the  Measure 
of  an  Arc  of  Parallel  Midway  Between 
the  Pole  and  the  Equator"  (1826),  and 
"  Course  of  Mathematics  for  the  Use  of 
Mariners  "  (1830). 

In  1 83 1  Nicollet  failed  in  speculation, 
losing  not  only  his  own  fortune  but  that 
of  others.  He  came  to  the  United  States, 
arriving  early  in  1832.  It  is  probable 
that  he  was  in  New  York,  but  there  is  no 
evidence  as  to  the  length  of  his  stay.  It 
is  known,  however,  that  he  was  impov- 
erished, and  that  he  was  assisted  by 
Bishop  Chanche,  of  Natchez,  to  go  on 
with  his  chosen  work — an  exploration  of 
the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  He 
made  astronomical  and  barometrical  ob- 
servations, determined  the  geographical 
position  and  elevation  of  many  important 
points,  and  studied  Indian  lore. 

The  United  States  government  was  so 
well  pleased  with  Nicollet's  work  that  it 
sent  him  to  the  Far  West  for  further  in- 
vestigations, with  Lieutenant  John  C. 
Fremont  as  assistant.  His  "  Geology  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi  Region  and  of  the 
Cretaceous  Formation  of  the  Upper  Mis- 
souri "  was  one  of  the  results  of  his 
journeys.  After  this  he  tried,  through 
letters,  to  regain  his  lost  standing  in 
France  by  seeking  election  to  the  Paris 
Academy  of  Sciences,  but  he  was  black- 
balled, and,  broken-hearted,  he  died  in 
Washington  in  September,  1843. 

The  Englishman  who  believed  that 
Nicollet  was  the  author  of  the  moon 
hoax  was  Augustus  De  Morgan,  father 
of  the  late  William  De  Morgan,  the 
novelist,    and    himself    a    distinguished 


mathematician  and  litterateur.  He  was 
professor  of  mathematics  at  University 
College,  London,  at  the  time  when  the 
moon  pamphlet  first  appeared  in  Eng- 
land. His  "  Budget  of  Paradoxes,"  an 
interesting  collection  of  literary  curiosi- 
ties and  puzzles,  which  he  had  written, 
but  not  carefully  assembled,  was  pub- 
lished in  1872,  the  year  after  his  death. 

DE   morgan's   notes   ON   NICOLLET 

Two  fragments,  printed  separately  in 
this  volume,  refer  to  the  moon  hoax. 
The  first  is  this: 

"  Some  Account  of  the  Great  Astronomical  Dis- 
coveries Lately  Made  by  Sir  John  Herschel  at 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope." — Second  Edition, 
London,  lamo,  1836. 

This  is  a  curious  hoax,  evidently  written  by 
a  person  versed  in  astronomy  and  clever  at  in- 
troducing probable  circumstances  and  unde- 
signed coincidences.  It  first  appeared  in  a 
newspaper.  It  makes  Sir  J.  Herschel  discover 
men,  animals,  et  cetera,  in  the  moon,  of  which 
much  detail  is  given.  There  seems  to  have 
been  a  French  edition,  the  original,  and  Eng- 
lish editions  in  America,  whence  the  work 
came  into  Britain;  but  whether  the  French  was 
published  in  America  or  at  Paris  I  do  not 
know.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  produced 
in  the  United  States  by  M.  Nicollet,  an  astron- 
omer, once  of  Paris,  and  a  fugitive  of  some 
kind. 

About  him  I  have  heard  two  stories.  First, 
that  he  fled  to  America  with  funds  not  his  own, 
and  that  this  book  was  a  mere  device  to  raise 
the  wind.  Secondly,  that  he  was  a  protege  of 
Laplace,  and  of  the  Polignac  party,  and  also 
an  outspoken  man.  That  after  the  Revolution 
he  was  so  obnoxious  to  the  republican  party 
that  he  judged  it  prudent  to  quit  France; 
which  he  did  in  debt,  leaving  money  for  his 
creditors,  but  not  enough,  with  M.  Bouvard. 
In  America  he  connected  himself  with  an  as- 
surance office.  The  moon  story  was  written, 
and  sent  to  France,  chiefly  with  the  intention 
of  entrapping  M.  Arago,  Nicollet's  especial  foe, 
into  the  belief  of  it.  And  those  who  narrate 
this  version  of  the  story  wind  up  by  saying 
that  M.  Arago  was  entrapped,  and  circulated 
the  wonders  through  Paris  until  a  letter  from 
Nicollet  to  M.  Bouvard  explained  the  hoax. 

I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  either  story; 
but  as  the  poor  man  had  to  endure  the  first, 
it  is  but  right  that  the  second  should  be  told 
with  it. 

The  second  fragment  reads  as  follows: 


114 


MUNSEY'S    MAGAZINE 


"The  Moon  Hoax;  or,  the  Discovery  That  the 
Moon  Has  a  Vast  Population  of  Human 
Beings,"  By  Richard  Adams  Locke. — New 
York,   1859. 

This  is  a  reprint  of  the  hoax  already  men- 
tioned. I  suppose  "  R.  A.  Locke  "  is  the  name 
assumed  by  M.  Nicollet.  The  publisher  informs 
us  that  when  the  hoax  first  appeared  day  by 
day  in  a  morning  newspaper,  the  circulation 
increased  fivefold,  and  the  paper  obtained  a 
permanent  footing.  Besides  this,  an  edition  of 
sixty  thousand  was  sold  off  in  less  than  one 
month. 

This  discovery  was  also  published  under  the 
name  of  A.  R.  Grant.  Sohnke's  "  Bibliotheca 
Mathematica  "  confounds  this  Grant  with  Pro- 
fessor R.  Grant  of  Glasgow,  the  author  of  the 
"  History  of  Physical  Astronomy,"  who  is  ac- 
cordingly made  to  guarantee  the  discoveries  in 
the  moon.  I  hope  Adams  Locke  will  not  merge 
in  J.  C.  Adams,  the  codiscoverer  of  Neptune. 
Sohnke  gives  the  titles  of  three  French  transla- 
tions of  "  The  Moon  Hoax "  at  Paris,  of  one 
at  Bordeaux,  and  of  Italian  translations  at 
Parma,  Palermo,  and  Milan. 

A  correspondent,  who  is  evidently  fully 
master  of  details,  which  he  has  given  at  length, 
informs  me  that  "  The  Moon  Hoax "  first  ap- 
peared in  the  New  York  Sun,  of  which  R.  A. 
Locke  was  editor.  It  so  much  resembled  a 
story  then  recently  published  by  Edgar  A. 
Poe,  in  a  Southern  paper,  "  Adventures  of 
Hans  Pfaall,"  that  some  New  York  journals 
published  the  two  side  by  side.  Mr.  Locke, 
when  he  left  the  New  York  Sun,  started  an- 
other paper,  and  discovered  the  manuscript  of 
Mungo  Park;  but  this  did  not  deceive.  The 
Sun,  however,  continued  its  career,  and  had  a 
great  success  in  an  account  of  a  balloon  voyage 
from  England  to  America,  in  seventy-five  hours, 
by  Mr.  Monck  Mason,  Mr.  Harrison  Ains- 
worth,  and  others. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  M.  Nicollet  was  the 
author  of  "  The  Moon  Hoax,"  written  in  a 
way  which  marks  the  practised  observatory 
astronomer  beyond  all  doubt,  and  by  evidence 
seen  in  the  most  minute  details.  Nicollet  had 
an  eye  to  Europe.  I  suppose  that  he  took 
Poe's  story  and  made  it  a  basis  for  his  own. 
Mr.  Locke,  it  would  seem,  when  he  attempted 
a  fabrication  for  himself,  did  not  succeed. 

In  his  remark  that  "  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  French  edition,  the  original," 
Augustus  De  Morgan  was  undoubtedly 
misled,  for  every  authority  consultable 
agrees  that  the  French  pamphlets  were 
merely  translations  of  the  story  originally 
printed  in  the  Sun;  and  De  Morgan  had 


learned  this  when  he  wrote  his  second 
note  on  the  subject. 

The  M.  Arago  whom  De  Morgan  be- 
lieves Nicollet  sought  to  entrap  was 
Dominique  Francois  Arago,  the  cele- 
brated astronomer.  In  1830,  as  a  reward 
for  his  many  accomplishments,  he  was 
made  perpetual  secretary  of  the  Paris 
Academy  of  Sciences,  and  in  the  following 
year  —  the  year  of  Nicollet's  fall  from 
grace  —  he  was  elected  to  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies.  As  to  the  intimation  that 
Arago  was  really  misled  by  the  moon 
story,  it  is  unlikely.  W.  N.  Griggs,  a  con- 
temporary of  Locke,  insists  in  a  memoir 
of  that  journalist  that  the  narrative  was 
read  by  Arago  to  the  members  of  the 
Academy,  and  was  received  with  mingled 
denunciation  and  laughter.  But  hoaxing 
Arago  in  a  matter  of  astronomy  would 
have  been  a  difficult  feat.  Surely  the  dis- 
crepancies pointed  out  by  Poe  would  have 
been  noticed  immediately. 

It  is,  however,  easy  to  understand  De 
Morgan's  belief  that  Nicollet  was  the 
author  of  the  moon  story.  Much  of  the 
narrative,  particularly  parts  which  have 
here  been  omitted,  is  made  up  of  tech- 
nicalities which  could  have  come  only 
from  the  pen  of  a  man  versed  in  the  in- 
tricacies of  astronomical  science.  It  seems 
unlikely  that  Locke,  clever  student  though 
he  was,  could  have  set  down  these  in- 
volved demonstrations  entirely  from  his 
own  knowledge  of  astronomy.  They  were 
not  put  into  the  story  to  interest  Stm 
readers,  for  they  are  far  over  the  layman's 
head,  but  for  the  purpose  of  adding 
verisimilitude  to  a  yarn  which,  stripped 
of  the  technical  trimmings,  would  have 
been  pretty  bald. 

It  was  plain  to  De  Morgan  that  Nicollet 
was  one  of  the  few  men  alive  in  1835 
who  could  have  woven  the  scientific  fabric 
in  which  the  hoax  was  disguised.  It  was 
also  apparent  to  him  that  Nicollet,  jealous 
of  the  popularity  of  Arago,  might  have 
had  a  motive  for  launching  a  satire,  if 
not  a  hoax.  And  then  there  was  Nicollet's 
presence  in  America  at  the  time  of  the 
moon  story's  publication,  Nicollet's  knowl- 


THE   STORY  OF  THE   SUN 


115 


edge  of  English,  and  Nicollet's  poverty. 
The  coincidences  are  interesting,  if  noth- 
ing more. 

FRENCH    COMMENTS   ON   THE   MOON   HOAX 

Let  us  see  what  the  French  said  about 
Nicollet  and  the  story  that  came  to  the 
Sun  from  "  a  medical  gentleman  im- 
mediately from  Scotland."  In  a  sketch 
of  Nicollet,  printed  in  the  ''  Biographic 
Universelle"  (Michaud,  Paris,  18S4),  the 
following  appears: 

There  has  been  attributed  to  him  an  article 
which  appeared  in  the  daily  papers  of  France, 
and  which,  in  the  form  of  a  letter  dated  from 
the  United  States,  spoke  of  an  improvement  in 
the  telescope  invented  by  the  learned  astronomer 
Herschel,  who  was  then  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  It  has  been  generally  and  with  much 
probability  attributed  to  Nicollet. 

With  the  aid  of  this  admirable  improvement 
Herschel  was  supposed  to  have  succeeded  in 
discovering  on  the  surface  of  the  moon  live 
beings,  buildings  of  various  kinds,  and  a  multi- 
tude of  other  interesting  things.  The  descrip- 
tion of  these  objects  and  the  ingenious  method 
employed  by  the  English  astronomer  to  attain 
his  purpose  was  so  detailed,  and  covered  with 
a  veneer  of  science  so  skilfully  applied,  that 
the  general  public  was  startled  by  the  announce- 
ment of  the  discovery,  of  which  North  America 
hastened  to  send  us  the  news. 

It  has  even  been  said  that  several  astronomers 
and  physicists  of  our  country  were  taken  in  for 
a  moment.  That  seems  hardly  probable  to  us. 
It  was  easy  to  perceive  that  it  was  a  hoax 
written  by  a  learned  and  mischievous  person. 

The  ''  Nouvelle  Biographic  Generale  " 
(Paris,  1862),  says  of  Nicollet: 

He  is  believed  to  be  the  author  of  the  anony- 
mous pamphlet  which  appeared  in  1836  on 
the  discoveries  in  the  moon  made  by  Herschel 
at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Cruel,  consistent  Locke,  never  to  have 
written  down  the  details  of  the  conception 
and  birth  of  the  best  invention  that  ever 
spoofed  the  world!  He  leaves  history  to 
wonder  whether  it  be  possible  that,  with 
one  word  added,  the  French  biographer 
was  right,  and  that  it  was  "  a  hoax  written 
by  a  learned  and  a  mischievous  person." 
Certain  it  is  that  Nicollet  never  wrote 
all  of  the  moon  story;  certain,  too,  that 
(To  be  continued  in  the  July 


Locke  wrote  much,  if  not  all  of  it.  The 
calculations  of  the  angles  of  reflection 
might  have  been  Nicollet's,  but  the  blue 
unicorn  is  the  unicorn  of  Locke. 

No  man  can  say  when  the  germ  of  the 
story  first  took  shape.  It  might  have  been 
designed  at  any  time  after  Herschel  laid 
the  plans  for  his  voyage  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  that  was  at  least  two 
years  before  it  appeared  in  the  Sun.  Was 
Nicollet  in  Nev*'  York  then,  and  did  he 
and  Locke  lay  their  heads  together  across 
a  table  at  the  American  Hotel  and  plan 
the  great  deceit? 

There  was  one  head  full  of  figures  and 
the  stars;  another  crammed  with  the 
imagination  that  brought  forth  the  iire- 
making  biped  beavers  and  the  fascinating, 
if  indecorous,  human  bats.  If  thej^  never 
met,  more  is  the  pity.  Whether  they  met, 
none  can  say.  Go  to  ask  the  ghosts  of 
the  American  Hotel,  and  you  find  it  gone, 
and  in  its  place  the  Woolworth  Building, 
earth's  spear  leveled  at  the  laughing  moon. 

Whatever  happened,  tlie  credit  must 
rest  with  Richard  Adams  Locke.  Even 
if  the  technical  embellishments  of  the 
moon  story  were  borrowed,  still  his  was 
the  genius  that  builded  the  great  temple, 
made  flowers  to  bloom  in  the  lunar 
valleys,  and  grew  the  filmy  wings  on  the 
vesper tilio-hom,o.  His  was  the  art  that 
caused  the  bricklayer  of  Cherry  Street 
to  sit  late  beside  his  candle,  spelling  out 
the  rare  story  with  joyous  labor.  It  must 
have  been  a  reward  to  Locke,  even  to 
the  last  of  his  seventy  years,  to  know 
that  he  had  made  people  read  newspapers 
who  never  had  read  them  before;  for  that 
is  what  he  really  accomplished  by  this 
huge,  complex  lie.  — 

^'  From  the  epoch  of  the  hoax,"  wrote 
Poe,  ''  the  Sun  shone  with  unmitigated 
splendor.  Its  success  firmly  established 
the  '  penny  system  '  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  (through  the  Sun)  consequently 
we  are  indebted  to  the  genius  of  Mr. 
Locke  for  one  of  the  most  important  steps 
ever  yet  taken  in  the  pathway  of  human 
progress." 
number  of  Munsey's  Magazinj!) 


The  Regicide 

BY   HAROLD   TITUS 

Author  of  "  The  Shadow  of  the  Petticoat,"  "  A  Four-Handed  Game,"  etc. 


FROM  his  father,  the  slate-gray  color, 
the  spindly,  wire-muscled  legs,  the 
lineal  delicacy,  the  nose  of  a  grey- 
hound; from  his  mother,  the  complex 
cross  which  developed  the  thin,  scraggly 
feathering  along  belly  and  tail,  the 
straight  back,  the  thickened  neck,  the 
widened  chest,  and  the  collie  ears;  from 
old  man  Waters,  an  appreciation  of  his 
own  abilities  and  shortcomings. 

"  Shag,"  the  man  would  whine,  finger- 
ing the  cool  muzzle,  "  Shag,  you  never  will 
git  to  run  jacks!  Rabbits  change  direc- 
tion too  fast  for  your  j'ints.  You  jus' 
naturally  can't  make  'em  slip  quick 
enough  " — with  a  disparaging  shake  of 
his  gray  head. 

Then  the  little  green  eyes  would  fire, 
and  Waters  would  cackle: 

"  But,  by  holy  smoke,  you're  goin'  to 
make  a  wolf-dog,  a  wolf-runnin'  fool;  git 
the  Big  'Un  some  day,  mebby.  You  got 
what  none  of  these  others  got — you  got 
th'  steam;  you  can  run  to  thunder  an' 
back  without  showin'  it!" 

Old  man  Waters  lived  on  a  ranch  with- 
in an  hour's  easy  ride  of  Gray  Hair,  Okla- 
homa. His  fenced  area  totaled  thirty 
acres,  and  the  space  not  devoted  to  build- 
■  ings  was  entirely  in  wheat,  which  returned 
a  meager  but  sufficient  annual  revenue 
and  required  but  little  attention. 

This  last  was  the  essential  point.  Old 
man  Waters  was  so  busy  with  his  dogs 
that  he  had  no  leisure  for  ranching.  He 
went  in  for  dogs  whole-heartedly;  Lord 
bless  you,  yes!  At  the  ranch  he  kept 
from  a  dozen  to  eighteen  or  twenty,  and 
that  was  merely  a  starter 


"  Shucks,  I  can't  recoHect,"  he'd  reply 
to  a  request  for  specific  information. 
"  Last  time  I  counted,  it  was  somewhere 
between  fifty  an'  sixty  or  so." 

His  hounds  were  scattered  widely  over 
the  prairie  country.  When  the  rabbits 
became  scarce,  or  he  grew  tired  of  one 
place,  he  could  ride  in  any  direction  and 
pick  up  a  half-dozen  greyhounds  and  a 
trailer  or  so  that  he  had  left  with  some 
distant  rancher,  run  them  to  his  heart's 
content,  and  return  home — or  go  on  to  an-- 
other  dog  depository. 

Every  one  in  the  country  knew  Waters; 
none  was  his  intimate.  He  was  too  much 
occupied  with  his  dogs  to  form  close  hu- 
man attachments.  Frequently  some  one 
else  rode  beside  him  as  he  led  his  pack  to 
the  open  prairie,  where  the  trail-hounds 
nosed  out  the  long-eared  jacks  for  their 
speedier  companions  to  chase;  but  when 
Waters  was  not  talking  to  his  dogs  he  was 
talking  about  them,  so  these  contacts  with 
men  never  ripened  into  friendships. 

Occasionally  he  went  quietly  through 
the  strips  of  oak  that  broke  the  rolling 
open,  watching  for  wolves.  At  those  times 
he  strove  to  avoid  company,  for  coyotes 
are  more  cunning  than  rabbits,  and  his 
casual  companions  could  not  take  the 
sport  with  sufficient  seriousness. 

More  than  ever  he  was  determined  to 
be  alone  on  his  wolf-hunting  when  he 
came  to  know  the  Big  'Un  —  a  great, 
gaunt  beast,  heavier  by  pounds  than  any 
prairie-wolf  Waters  had  ever  known,  less 
of  a  skulker,  more  likely  to  turn  and 
fight,  and  faster  than  his  kind.  Many 
times  Waters  sent  the  pick  of  his  pack 


116 


COMPOSITE  DRAWING   FROM    PHOTOGRAPHS  OF  THE   CORONA. 
Colored  from  observations  made  with  color  chart,  August  30,  1905. 


Of  all  the  secondary  planets  the  earth's  satellite  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  and  importiiiit. 
The  moon  completes  her  circuit  around  tlie  earth  in  a  period  whose  mean  or  average  lengtli  is  '27 
clays7liours43. 2minutes;  but  in  consequence  of  her  motion  in  common  with  the  earth  around  the 
sun,  the  mean  duration  of  the  lunar  month,  tliat  is,  tlie  time  from  new  moon  to  new  moon,  is  29 
days  12  hours  44. 05  minutes,  whicli  is  called  the  moon's  synodical  period.  If  the  earth  were  mo- 
tionless in  space  the  moon's  orbit  would  be  nearly  an  ellipse,  having-  the  earth  in  one  of  ilietocJ; 
hence  her  distance  from  the  earth  varies  during  the  course  of  a  lunar  month.  Her  mean  distance 
from  tlie  earth  is '238, 850  miles.  Her  maximum  distance,  however,  may  reach  252,830  miles,  and 
the  least  distance  to  which  she  can  approach  the  earth  is  221.520  nnles.  Jfer  dianietei- is  2,162 
miles,  and  if  we  deduct  from  her  distance  from  the  earth  the  sum  of  the  two  radii  of  the  earth  and 
moon,  viz.,  3,962  and  1,081  miles  respectively,  we  shall  have  for  the  nearest  appioiicli  ot  the  sur- 
faces of  the  two  bodies  216,477  miles.  Her  orbit  is  a  ver.v  intricate  one,  because  the  earib  in  moving 
aroundthe  sun  carries  the  moon  along  with  it;  hence  the  latter  is  sometimes  within  and  sometimes 
without  the  earth's  orbit.  Itsform  is  that  of  a  serpentine  curve,  always  concave  toward  the  sun, 
and  inclined  to  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit  at  an  angle  of  5o  9',  in  consequence  of  whicli  our  satel- 
lite appears  sometimes  above  and  sometimes  below  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit,  through  which 
she  passes  twice  in  a  revolution.  These  points  or  positions  are  called  nodes,  and  no  two  consecutive 
nodes  occupy  positions  diametrically  opposite  on  the  lunar  orbit.  The  nodes  have  a  retrograde 
motion,  which  causes  them  to  make  an  entire  revolution  in  18  years,  218  days,  21  hours,  22  minuies 
and  46  seconds.  This  motion  was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  who  called  it  the  fcjaros,  and  was 
made  use  of  by  them  in  roughly  predicting  eclipses. 

The  mooaalways  presents  the  same  face  to  us,  as  is  evident  from  the  permanency  of  thevarious 
markings  on  its  surface.  This  circumstance  proves  that  with  respect  to  the  earth  she  revolvi^s  on  an 
axis,  and  the  time  of  rotation  is  exactly  equal  to  the  time  of  revolution  around  the  earth,  viz., 
27.32166 days.  The  moon's  axis  is  not  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  her  orbit^  but  deviates  there- 
from by  an  angle  of  about 6o  41'.  In  consequence  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  inclination  of  the  lunar 
orbittothat  of  the  ecliptic,  the  poles  of  the  moon  lean  alternately  to  and  from  the  earth.  When 
the  north  pole  leans  toward  the  earth  we  see  somewhat  more  of  the  region  surrounding  it,  and 
somewhat  less  when  it  leans  the  contrary  way.  This  displacement  is  known  by  the  name  of  libra- 
tion  in  latitude.  ,        ,  .      .  ,-^-^,^j. 

The  moon*s  motion  on  her  axis  is  uniform,  but  her  angular  velocity  m  her  orbit  is  subject  to 
slightvariations  by  reason  of  the  form  of  her  orbit;  hence  it  happens  that  we  sometimes  see  a  little 
more  of  the  eastern  or  western  edge  at  one  time  than  at  another.  This  phenomenon  is  known  as 
libration  in  longitude.  ,     „        x.         ..,.  ^ 

The  moon's  surface  contains  about  14,685,000  square  miles,  or  nearly  four  times  theareaof 
TiUrope.  Her  volume  is  1-49  and  her  mass  1-81  that  of  the  earth,  and  hence  her  density  is  about 
3-5  that  of  the  earth,  or  about  3  2-5  that  of  water.  A  t  the  lunar  surface  gravity  is  only  3-'20  ol  what 
it  is  at  the  earth,  and  therefore  a  body  which  weighs  20  pounds  here  would  weigh  only  3  pounds  there. 

The  centre  of  gravity  of  the  earth  and  moon,  or  the  point  about  which  they  both  actually  revolve 
in  their  course  around  the  sun,  lies i«/</u:n the  earth ;  it  is  1,063  miles  below  the  surface. 

The  attractive  force  of  the  moon  acting  on  th  water  ot  our  oceans  is  mamly  instrumental  m 
raising  them  into  protuberances  or  tides  in  such  amanner  as  to  give  the  total  mass  a  spheroidal  figure 
whose  priucipal  axis  would  continually  coincide  with  the  line  joining  the  centres  ot  the  eartli  and 
moon  but  in  consequence  of  the  resistance  which  this  movement  of  the  water  encounters  Irom  con- 
tinents and  islands  as  well  as  trora  the  liquid  molecules  themselves,  the  tidal  wave  can  never  arrive 
at  any  place  until  about  one  hour  after  the  moon  has  crossed  the  meridian  of  the  place. 

The  moon  has  no  atmosphere  and  no  water.  The  suddenness  with  which  stars  are^occulted  by 
the  moon  is  regarded  asa  conclusive  proof  that  a  lunar  atmosphere  does  not  exist,  and  the  spectro- 
scope furnishes  negative  evidence  of  the  same  character 

In  ■      ■  -  ' .u „..,„„...„  „f  , 

cones  a 


VASOO   DA   QAMJL, 


to     be      j^     oOi.i^      ca.„^v.L.i.^.      jil' „      A.^i^itv;^. 

"Not  to  every  parent  is  given  the  clarity  of 
vision  which  will  enable  him  to  perceive  the  un- 
wisdom of  his  boy's  choice,  or,  perceiving  it,  the 
ability  to  lead  him  gently  to  the  path  which  it 
were  best  he  should  take.  Careers  for  the  Com- 
ing Men  is  designed  as  a  guide  to  supply  the 
needed  wisdom  and  suggestions." — St.  Louis 
Republic. 

"These  articles  were  planned  from  the  convic- 
tion that  many  parents  And  themselves  unfit- 
ted to  direct  their  sons  in  the  line  which  prom- 
ises them  the  greatest  success.  The  book  is  full 
of  helpful  suggestions  for  young  men  just  about 
to  enter  upon  their  life  work."— Fourth  Estate. 

"Never  before  have  we  seen  a  book  whose 
authors  occupied  such  uniformly  high  positions  in 
their  several  fields.  Stirely  if  any  one  is  able  to 
write  accurately  of  a  profession,  it  will  be  these 
men,  all  of  whom  have  won  a  national  reputa- 
tion for  themselves  in  their  chosen  careers." — 
Christian  Standard. 

"The  callings  dealt  with  in  this  book  are  all 
discussed  by  authorities." — New  York  Tribune. 

"Sound  discussions  of  the  professions  and  com- 

Clotb,   i2mo,  $1.50 

PUBLISHED  BY 


"The  book  is  one  of  unusual  strength  arA 
force,  and  will  certainly  be  widely  read."— I>9 
Moines  News.  | 

"A  book  of  unusual  Interest  and  value,  ari'  1 
ought  to  find  a  place  in  every  home  where  thei  ' 
are  boys."'— Burlington  Hawkeye. 

"All   the  papers   are   written   with   a  view  1 
help  young  men   who   are   just  entering  life  ' 
choose  wisely   the   line   of   work  that  they  w 
pursue.     The  character  of  the  writers  of  the^   ! 
articles    makes    any    comment    unnecessary."- ' 
Baltimore  Herald, 


PUBLISHING     COMPANY,     Akron,    0.) 


156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 


spite   of  his  legendary   personal   ugliness — pale, 
round,  ungainly  face,   sallow  complexion,  erup- 
tive skin,  huge  rubicund  nose,  pinkish-blue  eyes 
and  reddish-yellow  hair,  he  was  able  to  charm 
'  women    by    his    incisive    speech,    nicely    turned 
compliments  and  keen  wit.     Sainte-Beuve  was 
un  ardent  admirer  of  the  late  Princess  Mathilde, 
hrough  whose  influence  he  was  made  a  Senator 
3y   Napoleon   III.     He   fell    desperately   in   love 
with  the  daughter  of  General  Pell^tier,  but  the 
young    girl    could    never    be    reconciled    to    his 
mattractive    personal    appearance.      After    this 
le  Is  stated   to  have  had  a  desperate  flirtation 
vlth    Mme.   Ad61e   Hugo.      He   has    become   the 
literary  curiosity  of  the  day,  and  books  bearing 
ipon  his  Inner  life  are  eagerly  r^ad. 
The  Liibrarie  Chaix  has  in  press  "Les  Maltres 
e    I'AfTiche,"    a    cleverly    illustrated    work    de- 
ceptive of  the  street  posters  of  Jules  ChSret, 
Willette.    Stelnlein,    L§andre    and    Crafty.      The 
•ame   firm   Is   about   to   issue   "Les   Maitres   du 
■^ssin,"   by   Roger   Marx,   inspector   general   of 
.arts,    a   book    of    especial    interest    to    art 

w  hooks  of  travel  this 


^  I 


SANTA  CLAUS 

M^ILL  SOON    O  PD  P/ 

If  you  want   a   handsome    presesijl 
buy  a  set  of  \1 

CATHEDRALS  OF  ENGLAND    I 

Edited  by.       J 
Canon  FarrAr-     x 


vols.,  octavo,  hoftrnj 

in     red     silk    clfetj 

(boxed),  $5.00.       ; 

The  shapely  for^' 
of  the  voltimes,  ii 
gether  with  their  lit 
erar jr  and  art  valiJ 
makes  it  a.  moat  dj 
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'.-iep .  or  for  preaej/ 


hrwm^0 


neptuneI 


^ 

,/c//      ^l 


w^ 


>Ji 


p 


^nieri 
-1  ] 


NTENTS 


OHAPTKB 


PAGE 


I. -THE   EARTH   IN    SPACE.     Its  Motions,  etc.    ----...               .  5 

XL— THE   CBUST    OF   THE    EARTH.     Its  Strata,  etc.        ---_-..  H 

III.— THE    LAND    SURFACE    OF   THE    EARTH.     Its  Continents,  etc.    -       -       -       -  20 

IV— MOUNTAINS,   PLATEAUS,   AND    PLAINS    -       -       -       -       ■-       -       -       --  29, 

v.— ISLANDS.     Reefs,  Lagoons,  etc.      -       -       --       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -36 

VI.— MAGNETISM.     The  Mariner's  Compass ;  Magnetic  Storms,  etc.  -       -       -       _  40 

VII.— VOLCANOES  AND  VOLCANIC  FORCES.    Plienomena  of  Eruption  ;  Geysers,  etc.  44 

VIII.— EARTHQUAKES.     Tlieir  Causes  and  Eflfects          ---_____  siji 

IX.— THE    WATER    OF   THE   ATMOSPHERE.     Its  Forms  and  Uses         -       -       -       -  56  ,^ 

X.— THE   WATERS    OF   THE    CONTINENTS.      Springs  and  Lakes      -       -       _       _  62 

XL— RIVERS   AND   DRAINAGE.     What  Rivers  are  and  what  they  do          _       _       _  68 

XII.-AVALANCHES,    GLACIERS,    AND   ICEBERGS.     Their  Formation  and  Powers.  75  j 

XIII.— OCEAN.  WATERS.     Their  Extent,  Color,  Waves,  etc.    -------8l|l 

XIV.— TIDES.     What  Causes  them          -----_-_____  86 

XV.-OCEAN   CURRENTS.     Their  Formation  and  Influence        -       -       i       _       _       _      90 

I  ■  ■  ■  ^'  f 

Xyi.— THE   ATMOSPHERE.     Its  Properties,  Winds,  Calms,  etc.        -       -       -       -       -  96  il 

'VII.— STORMS,    CYCLONES,    AND    TORNADOES.     Their  Nature  and  Effects         -       -     ! ' 


32lenienti3  of  tije  .Solar  .SaJstcm. 


Mean  Sidereal 

Dally  Revolution- 

Motion.  Days. 


Distance   from   the    Sun. 


Mercury 

Venus 

Earth 

Mars 

Jupiter 

Saturn 

Uranus 

Neptune 

Name 

OF 

Planet. 


14732.420 
5767.6696 
3548.192 
1886.5182 
299.1256 
120.4548 
42.2308 
21.530 


87.96925 
■      224.70080 
365.25636 
686.97987 
4332.6284 
10759.2225 
30688.5022 
60178.3060 


0.387099 
0.723331 
1.000000 
1.523688 
5.202803 
9.538838 
19.190978 
30.070672 


0.466693 

0.728260 

1.016746 

1.665877 

5.454395 

10.071570 

20.094454 

30.327506 


0.307505 
0.718402 
0.983254 
1.381499 
4.951211 
9.006100 
18.287502 
29.813838 


35,951,105 

67,193,688 

92,894,800 

141,542,690 

483,313,340 

886,108,900 

1,782,742,060 

2,788.764,300 


Mercury 
Venus . . 
Earth. .  . 
Mars .  .  . 
Jupiter. . 
Saturn. . 
TJranus . 
Keptune 


Eccentricity 

of 

Orbit. 


0.2056167 
0.0068150 
0.0167460 
0.0933198 
0.0483570 
0.0558482 
0.0470781 
0.0085410 


Synodlcal 

Revolution — 

Days. 


115,877 
683,920 

■■779,936  ■ 
398,866 
378,090 
369,650 

367.482 


Inclination  of 
Orbit  to 
Ecliptic. 


1   51      1.0 

1  18  29.1 

2  29   30.6 

0  46   21.9 

1  46  41.2 


Orbital  Velocity 

Miles 

Per  Second. 


29.55 
22.61 
18.38 
15.00 


Mercury. 
Venus. .  .  . 
Earth. .  .  . 
Mars .  .  .  . 
Jupiter. .  . 
Saturn .  .  . 
Uranus. .  . 
Neptune. 


jn    Lnngitudr 
at  the 
Epoch.** 


115  4  3.26 

165  4  20.94 

99  47  20.22 

70  45   5.47 

242  24  21.96 

53  23  10.90 

294  57  2.33 

111  24  32.14 


Mean    Longitudi 

o£  th« 

Perihelion.* 


76  5  10.9 
130  19  58.0 
101  25  37.7 
334  26  21.8 

12  54  18.0 

91  19  26.1 
169  14  25.8 

43  51  38.2 


Annual 
Sidereal 
Wotioa. 


+  5.7 
+  0.4 
+  11.6 
+  15.9 
+  7.6 
+  20.2 
+  7.4 
—18.9 


.n    Longitude 
of  the 
.A.scending    Node. 


48  52  42,6 

99.  33  33.3 

112  53  17.7 

73  33  2.1 

130  48  38.9 


10.58 
1.94 
1.03 
0.52 
0.041 
0.012 
0.003 
0.001 


4.59 

1.91 

0.97 

0.36 

0.034 

0.010 

0.0025 

0.001 


*Kpoch  1912  January  Od  Greenwich  mean  time. 

Semi-diameter. 

Volume. 

Mass. 

Density. 

Axial 

Gravity  at 
Surface. 
©=1 

Sun 

At 

At  Mean 

In 

AND 

Unit 

Least 

Miles 

®=  1 

©=.1 

©-=1 

Rotation. 

PlANETS. 

Distance. 

Distance. 

(Mean). 

Sun 

15  59.6 

" 

432183.68 

1303371.8 

329390 

0.2527 

D.    H.    M.  K. 

25     7  48   0 

•27.6057 

Mercury. . 

3.34 

6.45 

1504.24 

0.054955 

0.054898 

0.99895 

24     5   ? 

.37979 

Venus.  .  .  . 

8.55 

30.90 

3850.67 

0.921875 

0.807328 

0.87574 

23   21    ? 

.85236 

Earth.  .  .  . 

1.000000 

1.000000 

1.00000 

23  56  4.09 

1.00000 

Mars 

5.05 

9.64 

2274.37 

0.189953 

0.106478 

0 . 56055 

24   37  23 

.32222 

Jupiter.  .  . 

1   37.16 

23.12 

43758.03 

1352.809 

314.4985 

0.23247 

9   55  20 

2.57113 

Saturn. .  . . 

1   21.17 

9.55 

36558.86 

788.934 

94.0684 

0.11923 

10   14  24 

1.10175 

Uranus .  .  . 

33.5 

1.84 

15096.43 

55.550 

14.4033 

0.25928 

Unknown. 

.98932 

Neptune . . 

38.7 

1.33 

17411,34 

85.224 

16.7199 

0.19619 

Unknown. 

.86338 

TTHSnaj-YTJ 


Drawn  by  Harvey  Ellis.     Half-toiie  plate  engraved  by  C.  W.  Chadwick 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 

BY   JOHN    HENRY    FREESE 

Observer  at  the  Harvard  College  Observatory  i 


AFTER  looking  through  a  telescope  of 
Jr\.  high  power  at  such  objects  in  the 
heavens  as  nebulae  and  star-clusters,  or  per- 
haps at  the  "mountains  on  the  moon,"  vis- 
itors at  the  Harvard  Observatory  always 
marvel  at  their  delicacy  of  definition  and 
general  magnificence,  and  often  make  the 
inquiry :  "  Do  stars  change,  and  is  any  order 
of  change  discernible?"  In  the  present 
article  I  shall  consider  this  question. 

Under  my  analysis,  the  inquiry  means, 
Has  the  nebular  hypothesis  been  proved  or 
disproved  in  the  fight  of  facts  disclosed  by 
recent  astronomical  research  ?  Great  think- 
ers of  the  past  have  thought  that  the  sun 
and  its  planets,  including  the  earth,  existed 
long  ago  in  a  diffused  nebulous  state,  ro- 
tating on  its  axis,  from  which  the  sun  and 
its  planets  have  evolved  by  the  natural 
forces  of  attraction  and  condensation.  At 
the  present  time  this  theory  is  widely  ac- 
cepted among  astronomers. 

Sir  William  Herschel,  the  renowned 
English  astronomer  and  indefatigable  ex- 
plorer of  the  stellar  realm,  extended  the 
aforementioned  nebular  hypothesis  beyond 
our  solar  system.  His  great  intellect  con- 
ceived the  evolution  of  the  stellar  universe 
in  a  manner  that  has  received  striking  con- 
firmation from  recent  stellar  photographs. 

Let  us  consider  whether  the  nebular  the- 
ory applies  to  all  the  stars,  or,  as  the  visitor 
puts  it,  do  real  changes  take  place  in  the 
stars,  and  can  we  discern  the  order  of 
change  ?  Do  these  "  unnumbered  sparks  " 
grow  up  from  an  infancy,  live  a  life,  and 
then  undergo  extinction  and  dissolution, 
only  to  be  recreated  by  the  forces  of  na- 
ture ? 


Changes  may  be  of  position,  of  form, 
and  of  composition,  though  these  divisions 
are  closely  related. 

Detecting  changes  of  the  position  of  stars 
with  reference  to  one  another  involves  an 
exceedingly  nice  observation  and  calcula- 
tion, but  numerous  independent  researches 
have  confirmed  the  general  principle  that 
the  stars  in  the  constellations  of  Hercules 
and  Lyra  are  apparently  spreading,  and 
those  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  celestial 
sphere  are  growing  nearer  together.  It  was 
Sir  William  Herschel  who  made  this  great 
discovery,  and  he  argued  from  it  that  our 
solar  system  is  moving  rapidly  through 
space  toward  Hercules,  an  analogous  ap- 
parent motion  being  that  of  groves  of  trees, 
when  a  person  moves  from  one  grove  to- 
ward another,  in  which  case  the  trees  be- 
hind him  seem  to  be  growing  nearer  toge- 
ther, and  those  before  him  seem  separating 
farther  apart.  Aside  from  these  general 
changes,  occasioned  by  the  translation  of 
our  solar  system  in  space,  it  is  certain  that 
many  of  the  stars  are  moving  irregularly  in 
reference  to  one  another, — some  this  way, 
some  that, — stars  near  together  tending  to 
move  in  the  same  direction.  One  star, 
known  as  No.  1830  Groombridge's  Cata- 
logue, moves  ten  degrees  in  five  thousand 
years ;  Arcturus  moves  five  degrees  in  ten 
thousand  years,  both  being  extraordinarily 
great  changes  from  the  astronomical  point 
of  view.  Professor  Arthur  Searle  of  the 
Harvard  Observatory  has  recently  detected 
a  star  having  a  very  large  proper  motion, 
and  such  new  discoveries  are  becoming 
commoner  every  day. 

Many  stars  show  a  tremendous  velocity 


^  The  illustrations  are  mainly  reproductions  from  prints  made  by  the  writer,  being  his 
interpretation  of  negatives  made  under  the  direction  of  Edward  C.  Picker- 
ing, Director  of  the  Harvard  College  Observatory. 


FIGURE    I.     A   RICH    FIELD   OF    STARS.     FROM   A   PLATE   COVERING    ONLY   FIVE   SQUARE 
DEGREES,    BUT   SHOWING   OVER  400,000  STARS   BY  ACTUAL   COUNT 


FIGURE  2.    SPECTRUM    OF   ALPHA    PfjOTES 


in  the  line  of  sight,  some  moving  toward, 
others  away  from,  the  earth.  Sir  WiUiam 
Huggins  discovered  the  ingenious  means 
of  detecting  this  phenomenon  by  the  spec- 
troscope. A  single  point  of  light  passed 
through  a  prism  gives  what  is  called  a 
spectrum.  When  spread  out  by  a  cylin- 
drical lens,  or  by  a  trail  on  a  photographic 
plate,  this  appears  as  a  ribbon  of  light 
crossed  by  certain  lines.  These  lines  stand 
for  certain  chemical  elements — hydrogen, 
calcium,  and  so  on.  Figure  2  shows  a 
spectrum  of  the  star  Alpha  Bootes,  photo- 
graphed at  the  Harvard  Observatory.  The 
lines  crossing  the  band  of  hght  shift  their 
position  as  the  body  moves  nearer  or  farther 
from  the  observer,  and  the  amount  of 
change  can  be  measured,  and  the  move- 
ment in  the  line  of  sight  can  be  detected 
and  estimated. 

Changes  in  form  and  composition  I  shall 
discuss  together,  and  endeavor  to  work  out 
a  definite  cycle  of  evolution. 


As  a  starting-point  in  this  endless  chain 
of  stellar  evolution,  conceive  the  existence 
of  a  vast  amount  of  molecular  matter,  or 
perhaps  gaseous  atoms,  much  diffused  in 
space,  and  too  remote  and  infinitesimal  to 
be  perceived  by  any  human  agencies  of 
discernment.  Space  is  filled  with  such 
atoms,  and  they  are  continually  changing 
their  position  with  respect  to  one  another. 
Changes  in  this  mass  of  "  star-dust "  are  ex- 
ceedingly slow,  for  thousands  of  years  are 
but  momentary  in  the  scale  of  cosmic  time. 
At  length,  however,  mutual  gravitation 
brings  the  atoms  near  together,  and  simul- 
taneously, uninterruptedly,  and  with  in- 
creasing activity,  mutual  pressure  and  in- 
crease of  temperatu.re  bring  about  chemical 
union.  At  length  these  united  molecules, 
by  combining  with  one  another  again  and 
again,  aggregate  into  irregular,  spiral,  and 
annular  clouds  of  nebulae.  It  is  the  steady 
pull  of  gravity  which  overcomes  atomic 
repulsion   and  compels  mutual  approach 


FIGURE  3.    THE   GREAT  NEBULA   IN    ORION 


FIGURE  4.    THE   TRIFID   NEBULA 


THE    MAKING    OF    THE   UNIVERSE 


303 


of  the  particles.  Figure  3  shows  one  of 
the  earher  forms  of  nebulse.  Here  I  beheve 
a  tremendous  colhsion  between  stars  in  all 
probability  took  place  many  ages  ago. 
The  colHding  bodies  may  have  been  bright 
stars,  but  more  hkely  were  stars  cooled  and 
darkened  by  radiation  and  contraction. 
Then  atomic  concentration  began,  and  has 
continued  until  a  nebula  of  enormous  extent 


FIGURE  S-    THE  PLANET   SATURN. 

is  established,  the  more  or  less  homogeneous 
mass  probably  rotating  around  a  common 
center  of  gravity.  Continued  condensation 
and  centripetal  action  cause  accelerated 
motion,  while,  on  account  of  the  centrif- 
ugal force,  division  of  the  nebula  may  take 
place,  as  is  shown  in  Figure  4.  Here,  in  a 
later  stage,  the  nebula  is  seen  divided  into 
two  parts,  and  the  larger  component  shows 
unmistakable  evidence  of  an  approaching 
division  into  three  parts.  There  are  vari- 
ous forms  of  concentration,  just  as  we  ob- 
serve the  same  phenomena  in  sky-clouds 
and  dust-clouds.  Such  forms  depend  upon 
the  shape  of  the  nebula,  its  density,  mo- 
tion, size,  etc.  The  photographs  them- 
selves are  self-expHcable,  indicating  that 
the  form  really  depends  upon  the  accident 
of  creation,  whether  by  collision  of  stars 
or  by  the  attractive  accumulation  of  star- 
stuff.  The  whole  nebula  may  revolve, 
throwing  off  outer  rings,  as  is  shown  in 
Figure  5,  which  represents  the  planet  Sat- 
urn, and  in  Figure  6,  which  shows  the 
planet  Jupiter.  These  photographs  give 
autobiographical  evidence,  the  latter  of 
the  existence  of  attached  rings  in  ages  long 
gone  by,  while  the  rings  of  Saturn  remain 
clearly  intact.  The  bands  upon  Jupiter's 
surface  and  the  rings  of  Saturn  may  be 


FIGURE  6.    THE    PLANET  JUPITER 

seen  clearly  with  a  telescope  of  low  power. 
Figure  7  shows  a  more  extended  state  of 
condensation,  and  is  not  easily  interpreted. 
Here  groups  of  stars  are  shown  surrounded 
by  nebulous  clouds.  Gradually  the  nebu- 
lous matter  is  absorbed,  and  the  perpetual 
recurrence  of  curves  and  hues  of  equal 
stars  regularly  interspersed,  having  strik- 
ingly similar  configuration  and  being  self- 
dehneated  on  the  photographic  plates  just 


FIGURE   7.     NEBULA    IN   CARINA 


FIGURt;  8.    GREAT   KKiiULA   IN  ANDROMliDA 
By  courtesy  of  Dr.  Isaac  Roberts  of  England 


connected  with  nebulous  matter,  adds  proof 
to  this  hypothesis.  Figme  8  shows  the 
nebula  in  Andromeda,  its  spiral  formation 
appearing  quite  clearlj'-.  Here,  notwith- 
standing the  imfavorable  incHnation  of  the 
axis  of  the  spiral,  we  see  a  strong  central 
nucleus  encompassed  by  dark  bands,  show- 
ing divisions  betAveen  symmetrical  bands  or 
rings  of  nebulousmatter,  the  center  t)f  which 
must  be  many  times  larger  than  our  whole 
solar  system.  Figures  9  and  10  show  two 
other  examples  of  spiral  nebulae,  and  these 
nebulas  are  profusely  distributed  through- 
QUt  the  heavens,  and  they  almost  all  show 
Strong  central  nuclei,  the  outer  portions 
being  more  or  less  broken  up,  from  which 
innumerable  nebulous  wsps   extend   out- 


ward—in all  making  a  strong  pictorial  ar- 
gument, tending  to  show  that  large  star- 
clusters  are  the  result  of  the  convolutions 
of  spiral  nebulae.  Probably  the  outside  of 
nebulae  breaks  up  first,  and  so  we  find 
many  with  uniform  stars  on  the  outside, 
but  with  centers  which  cannot  be  resolved 
by  telescopes  of  the  highest  power.  Fig- 
ure 1 1  shows  a  cluster  in  process  of  con- 
densation, the  outside  being  condensed 
into  the  stars,  and  the  nucleus  being  unre- 
solvable.  Figure  12  .shows  a  cluster  wliich 
can  be  resolved  almost  wholly.  In  all  prob- 
abihty  this  was  once  a  spiral  nebula,  and 
we  see  it  in  a  much  condensed  state,  look- 
ing along  the  axis  of  the  spiral— looking 
into  the  cone,  as  it  were.    Figure  1 3  shows 


THE    MAKING    OF    THE   UNIVERSE 


205 


the  group  of  stars  known  as  the  Pleiades, 
it  being  a  condensation  almost  consum- 
mated, a  faint  nebula  only  remaining 
around  the  newly  formed  stars. 

Thus  we  have  viewed  the  transformation 
of  nebulae  into  stars.  To  complete  the 
cycle  of  evolution  by  understanding  the 
change  from  stars  into  nebulae  is  most  per- 
plexing. But  the  spectroscope  comes  to 
omr  aid.    With  the  spectroscope  we   can 


FIGURE  9.    GREAT  SPIRAL  NEBULA  IN  HYDRA 

quite  certainly  determine  star-temperatures, 
which  gives  us  an  indication  of  the  star's 
age.  This  is  done  by  an  analysis  of  the 
star's  spectrum,  a  star-spectrum  being 
shown  in  Figure  2.  Sirius  and  other  bluish- 
white  stars  give  spectra  crossed  by  heavy 
hydrogen  lines,  indicating  a  high  tempera- 
ture of  the  dense  primordial  matter  and  its 
envelopment  in  hydrogen  gas  of  high  tem- 
perature. This  stage  I  conceive  as  an 
early  one  in  stellar  life.  As  condensation 
and  radiation  progress,  the  gaseous  star 
grows  brighter,  as  may  happen  to  a  star 
as  explained  by  Lane's  law.  In  Capella 
and  other  stars  having  spectra  resembling 
our  sun,  the  carbon  and  metallic  lines  are 
conspicuous  and  numerous,  indicating  a 
much  more  condensed  state  than  Sirius, 
and  recording  the  extensive  dissipation  of 
energy  in  the  form  of  light  and  heat. 
These  stars  may  be  called  middle-aged. 
In  Aldebaran  and  other  of  the  lighter-red 


FIGURE   10,    GREAT   SPIRAL   NEBULA   IN 
CANES    MAJORES 

stars,  the  spectra  are  crossed  by  faint  me- 
tallic lines  and  dark  bands,  faint  toward  the 
red  end  of  the  spectrum.  In  other  deep 
dark-red  stars  the  metaUic  lines  are  faint, 
and  the  dark  bands  are  faint  toward  the 
violet  end  of  the  spectrum,  these  two 
latter  stages,  in  my  opinion,  being  the  last 
stage  toward  total  extinction  of  Hght. 

Stars,  after  gradually  absorbing  all  sur- 
rounding nebulous  particles,  at  the  end  of 
the  transition  from  a  gaseous  state  sink  in 
temperature.  Like  om-  sun,  they  gradually 
cool  off,  and  sometime  become  dark  and 
dead.  This,  to  my  mind,  is  also  proved  by 
the  fact  that  so  many  stars  are  apparently 
cooling  off,  varying  extensively  in  the 
amount  of  hght-emission,  which  irregularity 
has  not  as  yet  been  adequately  explained. 
At  present  there  are  a  great  many  long- 
period  variable  stars,  many  of  which  I  have 
observed  myself.  These  stars  are  period- 
ically compared  with  the  stars  near  them 
of  apparently  constant  magnitude,  the 
comparison  stars  being  of  graded  degrees 


FIGURE  II.    CLUSTER  IN   HERCULES 


206 


THE    CENTURY    MAGAZINE 


served  of  all  "  new  stars,"  and  is  an  instance 
where,  in  all  probability,  either  a  small  body 
or  small  nebula  collided  with  a  similar  body 
or  a  tremendous  internal  explosion  took 
place.  It  blazed  out  in  February,  1901,  at 
a  place  where  no  star  had  previously  been 
observed,  and  has  ever  since  been  subsiding. 
Besides  this  one,  astronomical  history  has 
recorded  at  least  fifteen  similar  instances. 

But  you  ask,  "  Why  do  not  bright  stars 
collide,  since  they  are  so  thick  ?  "  To  this 
I  say  that,  from  the  astronomical  point  of 
view,  stars  are  not  thick,  but  are  separated 
by  vast  distances  in  space,  and,  further. 


FIGURE   12.    CLUSTER  IN  CENTAURUS 

of  brightness  and  perhaps  being  lettered 
from  A  to  K,  A  being  the  brightest,  and  K 
several  magnitudes  fainter.  At  maximum 
brightness,  a  star  may  be  as  bright  as  A  or 
B,  and  at  minimum  as  faint  as  K,  an  un- 
questioned change  of  several  magnitudes 
in  brightness.  I  believe  thatin  time  to  come, 
perhaps  not  for  many  centuries,  the  com^se 
of  variation  of  all  stars,  apart  from  the 
cycles  of  variation  now  so  easily  fixed,  will 
be  found  rising  or  falling,  and  unquestion- 
ably determined  to  be  at  some  stage  in 
cosmic  life  or  in  the  cycle  of  evolution  as 
revealed  by  the  spectroscope.  Extensive 
variation,  I  believe,  is  a  symptom  of  ex- 
treme decadence,  dark-redness  being  a  pre- 
lude to  extinction.  Becoming  dark  and  of 
smaller  and  smaller  mass  aif  ects  velocity  and 
increases  perturba- 
tions of  motion, 
and  they  become 
at  length  more  and 
more  irregular. 
Then  it  must  fol- 
low that  colhsions 
and  grazings  of 
stars  occur.  Fig- 
ure 14  shows  the 
recent "  new  star  in 
Perseus  "  as  photo- 
graphed at  the 
Yerkes  Observa- 
tory. It  is  the 
most  perfectly  ob- 


FIGURE   14.    THE    "NEW   STAR  IN    PERSEUS" 
By  courtesy  of  Mr.  G.  W.  Ritchey,  the  Yerkes  Observatory 


FIGURE   13.    THE   PLEIADES 

that  our  universe  has  existed  for  such  an  in- 
finitely long  time — for  milhons  and  millions 
of  ages— that  it  has  reached  a  high  degree 
of  stability,  and,  by  the  theory  of  chances, 
such  collisions  are  extremely  unhkely, 
though  they  must  occasionally  occur. 

This  primary  diffusion  of  molecules  is 
not    only    brought    about    by    colhsions 
of  stars  themselves,  but  by  the  coUision 
and  disintegration     of  comets    and    me- 
teors, and  by  vol- 
canic   action    and 
star-explosions  and 
the  incessant  chem- 
ical action  going  on 
in  space. 

Extraordinary  as 
it  may  seem,  two 
hundred  tons  of 
meteors  fall  upon 
the  earth  daily, 
working  tremen- 
dous geological 
and  chemical  ef- 
fect in  a  long 
period. 


VOL.  LX. — 19. 


GREAT  NEBULA  IN  ANDEOMEDA. 


Photographed   with   the   two-foot   reflecting   Telescope   of   the   Yerices 
Observatory    (  Ritchey  ) . 


Fig.  9.    The  Solar  Corona. 
Photographed  by  Yerkes  Observatory  Eclipse  Expedition,  May  28,  1900  (Barnard  and 

Ritchey), 


preaommates  in  a  very  striking  manner  over  the  other  elements.     The 
spectral  lines  of  snch  elements  as  iron,  magnesium,  sodium  and  cal- 


FiG.  8. 

ClIABACTERISTIC  SPECTRA  OF  (a)  WHITE,  (6)  YELLOW,  AND  (c)  RED  STARS  (HUGGINS). 

cium,  rise  into  prominence  as  the  hydrogen  lines  fade.  Meanwhile  the 
light  of  the  star  undergoes  a  change  of  color,  completely  losing  its 
1)luish  cast  and  assuming  a  distinctly  yellow  hue.  There  can  be  little  if 
any  doubt  that  our  own  sun  once  passed  through  the  successive  stages 
which  are  represented  by  the  spectra  shown  in  Fig.  8.  The  time  which 
has  elapsed  since  it  acquired  its  present  size  and  density  as  the  result  of 
the  condensation  of  the  great  nebula  in  which  the  earth  and  the  other 
planets  also  had  their  origin,  covers  many  millions  of  years.  It  is  fortu- 
nate for  the  study  of  stellar  evolution  that  the  stages  through  which  the 
sun  once  passed  are  all  exemplified  in  existing  stars,  which  for  unknown 


Of  all  the  secondary  planets  the  earth's  satellite  is  by  far  the  most?  Interesting  and  important. 
The  moon  completes  her  circuit  around  the  earth  in  a  period  whose  mean  or  average  length  is  27 
days  7  hours  43. 2  minutes;  but  inconsequence  of  her  motion  in  common  witli  the  earth  around  the 
sun,  the  mean  duration  of  the  lunar  month,  that  is,  the  time  from  new  moon  to  new  moon,  is  29 
days  12  liours  44.05  minutes,  which  is  called  the  moon's  syiiodical  period.  If  the  earth  were  mo- 
tionless in  space  the  moon's  orbit  would  be  nearlj^  an  ellipse,  having  the  eartli  in  one  of  the  foci ; 
hence  her  distance  from  the  earth  varies  during  the  course  oE  a  lunar  month.  Ilor  moan  distance 
from  the  earth  is  238,850  miles.  Her  maximum  distance,  however,  may  reacli  252.830  miles,  and 
the  least  distance  to  which  she  can  approach  the  earth  is  221.520  miles.  Her  diameter  is  2,162 
miles,  and  if  we  deduct  from  lier  distance  froai  the  earth  the  sum  of  the  two  radii  of  the  earth  and 
moon,  viz. ,  3,962  and  1,081  miles,  respectively,  we  shall  have  for  the  nearest  approach  of  the  sur- 
facesof  tlie  two  bodies  216,477  miles.  Herorbit  is  a  very  intricate  one,  because  the  earth  in  moving 
around  the  sun  carries  the  moon  along  with  it;  hence  the  latter  is  sometimes  within  and  sometimes 
without  the  eartli's  orbit.  Its  form  is  that  of  a  serpentine  curve,  always  cmicave  toward  the  sun, 
and  inclined  to  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit  at  an  angle  of  5°  9',  in  consequence  of  which  our  satel- 
lite appears  sometunes  above  and  sometimes  below  the  plane  of  the  eartli's  orbit,  tlirough  which 
she  passes  twice  in  a  revolution.  These  points  or  positions  are  called  nodes,  and  no  two  consecutive 
nodes  occupy  positions  diametrically  opposite  on  the  lunar  orbit.  U'he  nodes  have  a  retrograde 
motion,  which  causes  them  to  make  an  entire  revolution  in  18  years,  218  days,  21  hours,  22  minutes 
and  46  seconds.  This  motion  was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  who  called  it  the  Saros,  and  was 
made  use  of  by  them  in  roughly  predicting  eclipses. 

The  moon  always  presents  the  same  face  to  us,  as  is  evident  from  the  permanency  of  thevarions 
markings  on  its  surface.  "This  circumstance  proves  that  with  respect  to  the  earth  slie  revolvfs  on  an 
axis,  and  the  time  of  rotation  is  exactly  equal  to  the  time  of  revolution  around  tlie  earth,  viz., 
27.32166  days.  The  moon's  axis  is  not  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  her  orbit,  but  deviates  theie- 
from  by  an  angle  of  ahout60  41'.  In  consequence  of  this  fact,  and  of  the  inclmation  of  the  lunar 
orbitto  that  ot  the  ecliptic,  the  poles  of  tlie  moon  lean  alternately  to  and  from  the  earth.  When 
the  north  pole  leans  toward  the  earth  we  see  somewhat  more  of  the  region  surrounding  it,  and 
somewhat  less  when  it  leans  the  contrary  way.  This  displacement  is  known  by  the  name  of  libra- 
tion  in  latitude.  .      .  ,, 

The  moon's  motion  on  her  axis  is  uniform,  but  her  angular  velocity  m  her  orbit  is  subject  to 
slightvariations  by  reason  of  the  form  of  her  orbit:  hence  it  liappeus  that  we  sometimes  see  a  little 
more  of  the  eastern  or  western  edge  at  one  time  than  at  another.  This  phenomenon  is  known  as 
libration  in  longitude. 

The  moon's  surface  contains  about  14,685,000  square  miles,  or  nearly  four  times  the  area  of 
Kurope  Her  volume  i3  1-49  and  her  mass  1-81  that  of  the  earth,  and  hence  her  density  is  about 
3-5thatof  theearth,  oraboutS  2-5  that  of  water.  At  the  lunar  surface  gravity  is  only  3-20  of  what 
it  is  at  the  earth,  and  therefore  a  body  which  weighs  20  pounds  here  would  weigh  only  3  pounds  there. 

The  centre  of  gravity  of  the  earth  and  moon,  or  the  point  about  which  they  botli  actually  revol\-e 
in  their  course  around  thesun,  lies  iv  itli  in  the  earth;  it  is  1,063  miles  below  the  surface. 

The  attractive  force  of  the  moon  acting  on  the  water  of  our  oceans  is  mainly  instrumental  in 
raising  them  into  protuberances  or  tides  in  such  amanner  as  to  give  the  total  mass  a  spheroidal  figure 
whose  principal  a.x:is  would  continually  coincide  with  the  line  joining  the  centres  of  the  earth  and 
moon,  but  in  consequence  of  the  resistance  which  this  movement  of  the  water  encounters  from  con- 
tinents and  islands,  as  well  as  from  the  liquid  molecules  themselves,  the  tidal  wave  can  never  arrive 
at  any  place  until  about  onehour  after  the  moon  has  crossed  the  meridian  of  the  place. 

The  moon  has  no  atmosphere  and  no  water.  The  suddenness  with  which  stars  are  occulted  by 
the  moon  is  regarded  as  a  conclusive  proof  that  a  lunar  atmosphere  does  not  exist,  and  the  spectro- 
scope furnishes  negative  evidence  of  the  same  character. 

In  remote  ages  the  lunar  surface  was  the  theatre  of  violent  volcanic  action,  being  elevated  into 
cones  and  ridges  exceeding  20, 000  feet  high,  and  at  other  places  rent  into  furrows  or  depressions  of 
corresponding  depth.  The  lunar  volcanoes  are  now  extinct.  A  profound  silence  reigns  over  the 
desolate  and  rugged  surface.     It  is  a  dead  world,  utterly  unfit  to  support  animal  or  vegetable  life. 

THE  KARTH'S  ATMOSPHERE. 
The  earth's  sensible  atmosphere  is  generallv  supposed  to  extend  some  forty  miles  in  height,  prob- 
ably further,  but  becoming  at  only  a  few  miles  from  ihe  surlace  of  too  great  a  tenuity  to  support  life. 
The  condition  and  motiois  of  this  aerial  ocean  play  a  most  important  part  in  the  determination  of 
climate,  modif.ving,  by  absorbing,  the  otherwise  intense  heat  of  the  sun,  and,  when  laden  wilh 
clouds,  hindering  the  earth  from  radiating  its  acquired  heat  into  space.  —  If- /titoA'er 


m)2  mooWn  titjases,  1913, 


rH 

Phase. 

Boston. 

New  York. 

Washington. 

Charleston. 

Chicago. 

a 

03 

1-3 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

15 
29 

6 
14 
20 
27 

7 
15 

22 
29 

6 
14 
20 
28 

6 
13 

20 

27 

4 
11 
18 
26 

4 
10 
18 
26 

H. 

5 
11 
10 

M. 

44    A.M. 
17    A.M. 
56    A.M. 
50    A.M. 

H.  M. 

5  33  A.M. 

11       6    A.M. 

10  44  A.M. 
2   38  A.M. 

H.  M. 

5   20   A.M. 
10   53   A.M. 
10  32  A.M. 

2   26  A.M. 

H.  M. 

6      9    A.M. 
10   42   A.M. 
10    21    A.M. 

2    14    A.M. 

H.  M. 

4   39   A.M. 
10    11    A.M. 

9   50  A.M. 
1   43   A.M. 

>> 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

12 
3 
9 

4 

38    A.M. 
50    A.M. 
19    P.M. 
31     VM 

12  26  A.M. 

3  38  A.M. 
9     8  P.M. 

4  20  P.M. 

12    14    A.M. 

3  26  A.M. 
8  55  P.M. 

4  7  P.M . 

12      2   A.M. 
3    13    A.M. 

8  44  P.M. 
3  56  P.M. 

5d  11   31  P.M. 

2  42  A.M. 
8   13  P.M. 

3  25  P.M. 

fi( 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

7 
4 
7 
8 

38  P.M. 

14    P.M. 

12  A.M. 

13  A.M. 

7  27  P.M. 
4     2  P.M. 

7  0    A.M. 

8  2    A.M. 

7   14  P.M. 
3  50  P.M. 

6  48  A.M. 

7  50  A.M. 

7     3  P.M. 
3   38   P.M. 

6  37  A.M. 

7  38  A.M. 

6  32  P.M. 
•   3      8  P.M. 

6  6    A.M. 

7  7    A.M. 

<J 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

1 
12 
4 

1 

4    P.M. 
55    A.M. 

48  P.M. 
25    A.M. 

12   52   P.M. 
12   43   A.M. 
4  37  P.M. 

1    13    A.M. 

12   40   P.M. 
12    31   A.M. 

4  24  P.M. 

1       1    A.M. 

12   29   P.M. 

12   20  A.M. 

4   13   P.M. 

12   50   A.M. 

11  58    A.M. 
13d  11   49   P.M. 

3  42  P.M. 

12  19    A.-M. 

d 

s 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

3 

7 
2 
7 

40   A.M. 

1    A.M. 

34    A.M. 

19    P.M. 

3   29  A.M. 

6  49  A.M. 
2   22   A.M. 

7  8  P.M. 

3    16    A.M. 

6   37  A.M. 

2    10    A.M. 
6   55   P..M. 

3       5    A.M. 

6   25  A.M. 
1    59   A.M. 
6   44   P.M. 

2   34  A.M. 

5  54  A.M. 
1    28    A.M. 

6  13  P.M. 

1-5 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

3 

11 

1 

12 

13    P.M. 

53    A.M. 

9    P.M. 

57  P.M. 

3      1    P.M. 

11  42    A.M. 

12  58   P.M. 
12  45   P.M. 

2   49   P.M. 

11  29    A.M. 

12  45  P.M. 
12   33  P.M. 

2   38   P.M. 

11  19    A.M. 

12  34   P.M. 
12   21   P.M. 

2     6   P.M. 

10  47  A.M. 
12     3   P.M. 

11  50    A.M. 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  -Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 

12 
4 
1 
5 

22    A.M. 
53   P.M. 
22   A.M. 
14   A.M. 

12    10    A.M. 

4  42  P.M. 

1     11    A.M. 

5  3    A.M. 

3d  11  58  P.M. 
4  29  P.M. 

12  58  A.M. 

4    51    AM. 

3d  11  47  P.M. 

4  18  P.M. 
12   47  A.M. 
4  39  A.M. 

3d  11   16  P.M. 

3  47  P.M. 

12    16    A.M. 

4  8    A.M. 

3 

New  Moon. 
First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 
New  Moon. 

8 
16 
24 
31 

7 
15 
23 
30 

6 
15 

8 
11 
3 
7 
3 

14    A.M. 
17    P.M. 
43   P.M. 
33  P.M. 
54  P.M. 

8      2    A.M. 
11       5    P.M. 

3  31   P.M. 
7  22  P.M. 
3   42   P.M. 

7  50  A.M. 
10  53  P.M. 
3   19  P.M. 
7   10  P.M. 
3  30  P.M. 

7  39  A.M. 
10  42  P.M. 
3     8  P.M. 
6   58  P.M. 
3   19   P.M. 

7      8  A.M. 
10   11    P.M. 
2   37   P.M. 
6   27  P.M. 
2  48  P.M. 

1 

'.  p. 

1- 

First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 
Last  Quarter. 
New  Moon. 

8 

8 

7 

12 

21    A.M. 

2    A.M. 

46    A.M. 

13    A.M. 

8   10  A.M. 
7   50   A.M. 
7  34  .\.M. 

12       1    A.M. 

7  58  A.M. 

7  38  A.M. 

7  22  A.M. 

29d  11  49  P.M. 

7   46  A.M. 

7   26   A.M. 

7    11    A.M. 

29d   11   37   P.M, 

7    15    A.M. 

6    55    A.M. 

6    39    A.M. 

29d   11      6   P.M. 

1 

First  Quarter. 
Full  Moon. 

9 
1 

2    P.M. 
23    A.M. 

8   50  P.M. 

1    11    A.M. 

8  38  P.M. 

12   59   A.M. 

5  45  P.M. 

8  27  P.M. 
12   47  A.M. 
5   34   P.M. 

7  56  P.M. 

12    16    A.M. 

5     3  P.M. 

STELLAR    EVOLUTION.  303 

devote  a  very  small  amount  of  time  to  the  subject.  As  3^011  doubtless 
know^  the  essential  feature  of  a  star  spectroscope  is  the  prism  or  train 
of  prisms  by  which  the  star  light  is  divided  into  its  constituent  parts. 
After  passing  through  the  prisms  the  light  of  the  star  is  spread  out 
into  a  long  band,  which  shows  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  beginning 


Fig.  7. 

Spiral  Nebula  in  Canes  Venattci. 

Photographed  with  the  two-foot  reflecting  telescope  of  the  Yerkes  Observatory  (Eitchey). 

with  red  at  one  end  and  passing  through  orange,  yellow,  green  and 
blue,  to  violet  at  the  other.  This  band  is  crossed  by  lines,  and  the 
problem  of  the  spectroscopist  is  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  these  lines. 
If  the  lines  are  dark  he  knows  that  the  light  of  the  star  after  originat- 


304  POPULAR    SCIENCE    MONTHLY. 

ing  in  an  interior  incandescent  body  has  passed  through  a  mass  of 
cooler  vapors,  and  that  during  its  transmission  some  of  the  light  has 
suffered  absorption.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  lines  are  bright,  he 
knows  that  the  region  where  they  are  produced  is  hotter  than  that  lying 
below.  Thus  a  single  glance  at  the  spectrum  of  a  star  is  sufficient  to 
give  important  information  regarding  the  physical  condition  of  its 
atmosphere. 

But  the  spectral  lines  are  able  to  tell  a  far  more  complete  story  of 
stellar  conditions.  If  their  exact  position  in  the  spectrum  can  be 
measured  it  becomes  possible  to  determine  the  chemical  composition 
of  the  star's  atmosphere.  And  here  the  spectroscopist  may  be  said  to 
have  the  advantage  of  the  archeologist,  in  that  the  key  to  stellar 
hieroglyphs  is  a  master  key,  capable  of  interpreting '  not  merely  the 
language  of  a  single  people  or  a  single  age,  but  of  laying  bare  the 
secrets  of  the  most  distant  portions  of  the  universe  and  applying  with 
equal  force  to  the  primitive  and  to  the  most  highly  developed  forms  of 
celestial  phenomena.  If  we  take  a  piece  of  iron  wire  and  turn  it  into 
vapor  in  the  intense  heat  of  an  electric  arc  lamp  we  find  that  the  light 
which  the  glowing  iron  vapor  emits,  when  spread  out  into  a  spectrum 
by  a  prism,  consists  of  a  series  of  lines  characteristically  spaced  and 
always  occupying  the  same  relative  positions.  In  the  same  way  every 
other  element  when  transformed  into  vapor  by  a  sufficiently  intense 
heat  emits  characteristic  radiations,  consisting  of  groups  of  lines 
occupying  definite  positions  in  the  spectrum.  It  is  thus  easy  to  see  how 
the  presence  of  iron  vapor  can  be  detected  in  the  atmosphere  of  Sirius 
or  in  that  of  the  sun.  In  the  spectrum  of  each  of  these  stars  we  find 
a  group  of  lines  occupying  the  same  relative  positions  as  the  lines  fur- 
nished by  the  iron  vapor  in  an  electric  arc.  Hydrogen  gives  an  even 
more  characteristic  group  of  lines,  which  grow  closer  and  closer  together 
as  we  pass  from  the  red  end  of  the  spectrum  toward  the  violet.  This 
group  occurs  in  the  spectra  of  thousands  of  stars  and  serves  as  an 
important  guide  in  determining  a  star's  place  in  a  general  scheme  of 
stellar  evolution. 

The  practical  means  of  carrying  out  this  method  of  research  may 
be  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  the  stellar  spectroscope  employed  with 
the  40-inch  Yerkes  telescope.  The  spectroscope  is  rigidly  attached  to 
the  lower  end  of  the  telescope  tube.  The  image  of  a  star  formed  by 
the  40-inch  lens  passes  into  the  spectroscope  through  a  slit  about  one 
one-thousandth  of  an  inch  wide.  After  analysis  by  a  train  of  three 
prisms  an  image  of  the  resulting  spectrum  is  formed  by  a  suitable  lens 
upon  a  photographic  plate.  In  making  the  photograph  it  is  only 
necessary  to  keep  the  image  of  a  star  exactly  on  the  slit  throughout 
the  exposure,  which  may  occupy  from  one  minute  to  several  hours,  the 
duration  depending  upon  the  brightness  of  the  star. 


^^■?iyA,P.oln:a^^' 


(y^' c^ c^<-^     -^ ^ a^o^^.-^^  c^c^^^ 


Elig-rttved  \v^C  T.Bry 


SIR    ISAAC    T^TEWTO^. 

0]'..1727. 

n<()"M    I'HE    OkrCMKAt.   OF   KNKT.l.F.R,  IN    T-H-E     fO  L  l.l'U  "f  I  o  N;"   ub' 
•n£K    KIOIl  r  iroX''-.'.K  THE    EART.    OE   EGrREMONl'. 


lnm-lrr,-J^jhLi.shj:<i  May  I.,  J8'Ji>,  iy  Ilar/iin/j  &  Lcfjm-cL,  I'ctU  Malt  Ji'toft  ■ 


'MUM  W.  MimS€MMlLlL 


("i7%pmy  a/  ^?^f^x/QM':'&^9^Jj^M^ 


^^  M^J^i^i^^  rf  G^:^(Z^r9?yQ.n^M^H^ii^a/^. 


Itadi-j-  the  Superjjitcntl2B.ct  of  the   Society  for  Ibe  DifTnsion  ui'  ITsefiil  Knini-^eclg'e. 


J\d>llslmi  bi-  Churhis  JUtitjhi.Xvd^aUSTfcH.Zi'fuI^'n-, 


■  JEryi9f(di iy  W.T.Fru. 


HAllIEY, 


T^ubHskfil.  ty  WrX  /V>-.?:c:."  U-itfim  . 


H IC®  ILiX^y    CC  ©Fl  MWH  iC  ©  „ 


QjMtTrffy  iii:/<S^££M-m^^w^i^J^t 


^i&^mJ^i^-^^f^''^'^  --^^  *^'^-* 


r. 


UndtT  tlie  SuiJ<TiiiT(raiiaiice  of  the  .SodtlT  for  Itir  mffiision  of  t'sefal  fiiimvle<1i>p. 


JOHN     KEPLER, 


^^^^^^  ^ 


^^9.  ^v^-  ^ 


Porlra'Ll  Gal  I  eiy  of  Hoggs  Weekly   Lustructor. 


JfalLore,  ^pnl  SS"^MSI . 


(^l^^^^l^  Ma/i^/^y  (2 


(i>';'za-l>a^t^&ay-^u  0.c7ol.'^e,&^i 


Io7i.don.Pu2iUo7i^,A  iyMajurulloji,  rk  C." 


J.Maea.piiJX^ 


]D)sAS^^®MS(D  ffi)l£:.WlLIL(£)A. 


c AP t:  JAMES  c  o  o  iv .  r. r.s, 

Jifi^m   ,->-i-,u<^t,ial  PariUiiuJ  ill.  ik  {>t^io^m    <•/    Si  1' .hwC/lll  Jin h/ix 


■•.  /  le}i%f3t(iy'' 


oi.iN-rrn.'s    cregor^",    \..iax  r.R.A  ,s^  ,>vl-. 


-^ 


)J^ 


il€QlLAQ    €®F1M'1II€@. 


C' —  /^)  ■ 


UiitLer  the  SiTperxntimdauce  nf  itii-  Sootety  for  the  Biffasioii  of  TJseixil  :Kiiowleage- 


Zondttn-  PubUfhed.  by  tfiarltis  JSiighz  BM  JtaS  Etisr,. 


■sj(s)mw  ib'ibjsi'=s°au. 


Iim    mAMQ    M1EWT@M.^ 


./^i-  Ua/dcu^fJi?//^^^ 


lUulfv  i3ie  .'aipermloTiaance  nf  the   Sociiely for  flic  JJdtfasioua  of  UscfcQ  Ivaowled 


Zi'lulan.Ad'tished  //y  UMrf-Ai- M>aa/aJka  MuJl  i:,ijt . 


Sminif.:!  hv .  I.  JOfi  elwhit,- . 


LA    PILA^aiM 


Under  tiie  SiapcrijUKiidHJu-e  of  flli:  Sncicty  lor  Die  IJilliisiou  ojnseJiil   Kiumaeiit!,-c. 


Z,itiJ/)w,Jii3>TtfliM'by  CharlAt  KniglUr.TaO'Mall'Siusb. 


GALILEO     GALILEL 


i^EH    MWM2FEM.1ET    E)M:WY. 


Qy^60n-/^M&^  ^Ufima/  <■  -  ^.^cla  /  /-  ■      ;/ 


-■i^l/^A^yJ'C'Me/jum-  .^x:^'  '^fr,':'/^.a/\,'^rf'/-r///y. 


Viulrr  till-  SuiH rJiiU-n.injiro  ,.r  llir-  Horj^lv  lir  ihc-  DilTiuviifli  nl' lUirfiil   KhuwIwIe;.-. 


^^+yt,^^Hii      (>j    ^^^^i^/^^i 


iSEFiFLlEia. 


Ifnilrt  I  he  SiipcfimtiMiiijui-Riil'  iJir-  Horiftiv  Jur  tIu"  T)iT£i.iaii)n  iil*  ltsi'fiilKTiriwUiilj--i' 


f^mJjiii.nililipiiai  *,  auirlA! I{ni-yfip,,l.u4t)l>!t£  •iva^;& I'aJI-  MnTt,M.t.d,- 


^:-, 


M 


;v^.- 


F]E®FESS®Bl  Mmm    )flM 


7A, 


J    ^  'iJfcU,i  d<f.    Ji>>'<^'^'^  ' 


<imnwm^i-ij. 


£n.7ro.vWbff  Jiol '  Sart 


©AILIIILIl'®. 


^.^^Tiy  QyA^>?u/^  hf^^le^',  (Jam/zit^ 


Dndiir-die  Supei-iiiteiidme.?  oJ' tlie  SociL-tv  Ibr  i.Uo  Diriiisioii  ol  Usdli:   ImuwlcdH-e. 


ZutLdoTi,:FiLf>ljfhed  iy  L>lij?=l^-J0ag7,t.Luilgati!,  Street. S,  FaU  llaU-  X,i/C. 


TYCHO     BRAHE. 


'^■^'■aied  buJ'Rak" 


rALILEO    GALILEI. 


From  a  Picture  in  the  Public  Library  in  Oxford. 


^?/:GBAI'EI]  BYSA/ylirSL  SAR  TAW. THE  ajUGIMiL-  £¥ H.  V/YA'TT, 


!L  Q  L  E  ®  o 


Tensile  Strength   of  Materials. 


79 


WEIGHT  OF  WATER. 


ubic  iiu'li 

culiic  Inclu's 

(.■ubii'fool(s:ill)... 
(■ubicloot(tresli).. 

cubic  fool 

cubic  leet 112.  0 

ubicfoet '22J0.0 


c.\  liiuii-ical  inch 
cyliiidricfil  inches 
cylindrical  foot — 


.08017  poiiuiL 

.484       pound. 

64,8  pounds. 

62.5  poiind.s. 

7.  48052  U.  S.  guls 

pounds. 

pounds. 


.02842  pound. 

.341       pound. 

49. 10         pounds. 


1  c.vliud  ricii.1  Joot. . 

2.  282  cylindrical  icet. . 

45.64  cylindrical fppt. . 

1  imperial  gallon.. 

11.2  imperial  ir.illous.. 

224  imperial  gallouH.. 

I  U.  S.  gallon  . 

13.44  IT.  H.  gallons, 

268.8  "U.  W.  gallons 


.  6.0 
.  112.0 
.2240.0 
.  10. 0 
.  112.0 
.2240,0 

8.855 
.  112.0 
2240. 0 


U.  8.  gals, 

pounds. 

poinids. 

pounds. 

pounds. 

pounds. 

pound.s. 

pouud.s. 

pounds. 


IS'OTB.— The  centre  of  pressui-e  of  a  body  of  waier  is  at  two- thirds  the  depth  from  the  surface. 
THEORETICAL  VELOCITY  OF  WATER  IN  FEET  PER  SECOND. 


Hbap.Kickt. 

Velocity,  Feet 
per  Second. 

Head,  1'bbt. 

25 
80 
35 

40 
45 
50 

Velocity,  rwi 
per  Secoml. 

55 
60 
65 

70 

80 

Velocity,  Feet 
per  Secc'md. 

HK...FKHT. 

VelociH.Feet 
per  Secoua. 

10 
12 
15 

18 
20 
22 

25. 4 
27.8 
81.1 
34.0 
35.9 
37.6 

40.1 
48. 9 
47.4 
50.7 
53.8 
56.7 

59.5 
62. 1 

64.7 
67.1 
69. 5 
71.8 

85 

90 

95 

100 

125 

150 

74.0 
76.1 

78.2 
80.3 
89.7 
98.8 

PRESSURE    OF  WATER   PER   SQUARE   INCH  AT  DIFFERENT  ELEVATIONS. 


Height 

Height 

Height 

JlKIGRT 

Fkkt. 

Pressure. 

Fkkt. 

Pressure. 

Fkkt. 

■     I''""""''- 

Fkct. 

Pressure. 

6 

2.60 

35 

15.16 

90 

38.98 

160 

69. 31 

8 

3.40 

40 

17.32 

100 

48.31 

170 

73.04 

10 

4.33 

45 

19.  49 

.110 

47.64 

180 

77.97 

15 

6.49 

50 

21. 65 

120 

61.98 

190 

82.  30 

20 

8.66 

60 

25.99 

130 

66.31 

200 

86.68 

25 

10.  82 

70 

;.o.  32 

140 

60. 64 

215 

93.14 

30 

12.99 

80 

34.65 

150 

64.97 

230 

99.63 

^cmijeratitrc  of  ^tcam 


ATMOSPHERIC  PRESSURE  14.7  DECREES  IN  FAHRENHEIT  SCALE. 

Pressuhe 

Defrrees 

i'llKSSUUK 

Degrees 

I'UES^UllK 

Decrees 

Pressukk 

Dugrees 

Pke 

of 

I'KK 

of 

Per 

,.£ 

Pkk 

of 

Sq.  Inch. 

Temperalnre. 

Sq.  Inch. 

Tt-mporature. 

SH.  IKCH. 

Temper.<i(nic. 

Sq.  Inch. 

'1'omper.ituro. 

1 

216.3 

12 

244.3 

32 

277.0 

80 

323. 9 

2 

219.4 

14 

248. 3 

34 

279. 6 

85 

327.6 

3 

222  4 

16 

252.1 

40 

280.9 

90 

381.1 

4 

225.  2 

18 

255. 7 

45 

292. 5       ' 

95 

334.5 

5 

227.  9 

20 

259. 2 

60 

297.8 

100 

837.8 

6 

230.5 

22 

262.5 

55 

302. 7 

105 

341.0 

7 

288.0 

24 

265.6 

60 

807. 4 

110 

344. 0 

8 

285.4 

26 

268.6 

65 

311.8 

115 

847. 0 

9 

237.7 

28 

271.5 

70 

316. 0 

120 

850.0 

10 

240.0 

30 

274.3 

75 

820.0 

125 

352.8       . 

Steam 

flows  into  atm 

osphere  at  t 

be  rate  of  650  feet  per  second. 

, 

WEIGHT  OF  POWER  KEOUIRED  TO  TEAR  ASUNDER  ONE  SQUARE  INCH. 


Br.s 


yellow 

Br  mze,  greatest 

least 

Ci>pp  r,  bolt  

cast  Aui 

"       r.Ued 


wire 


mghc. 

Gold,  cast 

Irou,  cast.  Low  Moor, 
Nu.  2 


Iron,  Cast  Am 

Iron,     wrouglit,     best 
Swedish  bar.. 

Iron,  bolts 

*'     hammered . . . 

"     m.iau  of  Am 

"         "         Eng 

**     plates,    boiler  j 
American ( 


4-2,000 
l!*,ODO 
66,788 
n,G98 
36,800 
24,250 
3ti,000 
61,2011 
34,000 
20,000 

14.076 
18,000 
3o,000 

72,00n 
62,260 
63,913 
31,829 
63,900 
48,000 
62,000 


Wire,  Am. . 
Wrouglit  w 

fvead,  cast , 

■      milled 


Platinum,  Wire... 

er,  cast 

Steel,  Am.  Tool  Co 

Mistered,  soft 
Steel,  cast,  maxi'm.. 


plates,  crosswise 
"       length- 
wise  

Steel,      puddled,      ex- 
treme  

Steel,  razor 

Tin,  Banca .... 

"    cast,  block 


Lbs. 
Avoir. 
"63,300 
66.000 
73:6m0 
103,0110 
1,800 
3.32U 
2,,'iSO 
53,0ii0 
4H,U0o 
179,980 
104,1100 
138,000 
142,000 
88,667 
93,7uO 

96,300 

173,817 

160,0011 

2,122 

6,000 

Matkbials. 

Lbs. 
Avoir. 

Tin  10,  Antimony  1... 
Ziuc 

11,000 
3,600 
16,000 

e,? 

lOil 

760 

77 

234 

414 

118 

2, 3.11". 

3„MiO 

16,0UU 

330 

070 

2,800 

6,'.'0O 

9,000 

72 

16,000 

9,000 

37,000 

"  sheet 

Brick,  fire 

"      Inferior.   

"      well  burne.l... 

Cement,  bluestone. . . . 

hydraulic... 

"      Portland,  6  mo 

Chalk 

(itos,  crown 

Leather  belts 

M.<irble,  Italian 

White 

Plaster  of  Paris 

Rope,  hemp,  tarred... 
''     maiiila......... 

M 


Slate    

Ash 

Bi'ech 

Cedar 

ChfSlnut,  swee 

Cypress 

l)ei;l.  Christian: 


Fir,  strongest.. 

Locust 

Mi.hoi.any 

Wiiple 


Pine,  Am.  whll«.. 

•'     pitch 

Popliir 


Spn     . 
Sycamore 

Teak 

Walnut.. 
Willow.. 


Tensile  Streni 

their  number,  or  to  t£ 
a  tree. 


:tll  is  the  resistance  of  the  fibres  or  part icb-s  of  a  body  to  separation.    It  la  therefore  piopi 
e  area  of  its  transverse  seotiou.    The  fibres  uf  wood  are  strongest  naar  the  centre  of  the  trunk 


Hinctpal  25lemciitj3  of  tije  Solac  cSPOtem. 


The  luimbcrof  asteroids  diseovereii  up  to  present  date  is  about  465.     A  number  of  these  smnl 
planets  liave  not  been  obseryed  since  their  discovery,  and  are  practieaUy    ,s       CoMsemuMi^^^^^^^^ 
•--v .sometimes  a  ma   ero  doubt,  until  the elemeuy 


<  really  new,  or  only  an  old  one  rediscovered. 


small 

......itlyit 

iomputed,  wlietlier  the  supposed 


80 


Seed  Planting  in  the   TTnited^  Stat-es. 


(Compiled  from  reports  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.) 
NEW  ENGLAND. 


Kin 


?  Cl:oi 


Com 

AVheat 

Oats 

Barley 

Kye 

liuckwheal 

White  beans.. .. 

Potatoes 

Turnips 

]\Iaiigels 

'I'obacco 

Jlay 


D.-ite  of  I'lanting. 


May  10  to  30 

I''all  or  Spring 

Apr.  to  May 

Apr.  to  June  20. . 
Apr.  to  May, Sept. 

June  1  to  20 

May  to  J\iue 

Aur.  15  to  May  1 . 
July  1  to  Aug.  3... 
Apr.  15  to  May  5.. 
Heed  bed  Apr 


Best  Soil. 


Sandy  or  clay  loam. 

Clay  loam 

Strong  loam 

Strong  Joam 

Medium,  loam 

Diglit  loam 

Sainly  loam 

iUcliloam 

Sandy  loam 

Strong  heavy  loam. . 
Sandy  loam 


Amount  of 
M.<iimre 
per  Acre. 


8  to  12  tons 

18tons 

6  to  8  tons 

7  to  8  tons 

7  loS  tons 

4  to  6  tons 

7  to  8  tons 

15  to  20  tons. . 
lOton: 

8  to  15  tons.... 
8  to  12  tons.... 


Amount  of 

Seed  per 

•     e(l). 


8  to  12  ats 

2bu-h 

2  to  3  busli 

2  to3busli.... 
5  to  6  pecks. . 
ItolMbnsh.. 

StolOats 

8to20bu.sh... 

Ill) 

4  to  6  lbs 


Weel' 
toil 
tiirii, 

11-; 

10-: 


MIDUD15   STATES. 


Corn 

Wheat 

Oats 

Barley 

Kye 

liuokwheat 

White beaus. .. 

Potatoes 

Sweetpotatoes. 

Cabbage 

Turnips.... 

JMangels 

Flax 

Tobacco 

Hay,  timothy.. 
Kay,  clover 


Apr.  20  to  Mav30 
Sept.  20  to  Oct.  20 

Mar.  to  May 

Mar.  to  May 

Sept.  1  to  Oct.  1. .. 

June  to  July 

May  to  June 

Mar.  to  May 

May  to  June....... 

Mar.  to  July 

July, 
May 

Blay.  

Seed  bed  Mar. 
Aug.  to  Oct . 
Feb.  to  Apr. 


Medium  loam 

Loam 

Moist  clay  loam 

Clay  loam 

Sand  or  gravel  loam . . 

Loam 

Sandy  loam 

Loam 

Sandy  loam 

Clay  or  sandy  loam. . . 

Loam 

Loam 

Limestone  loam 

Sandy  loam 

Clay  loam 

Clay  loam 


8  to  12  tons  manure, 
Stons;  300]bs.fer.. 
8  tons;  3()01bs.fer.. 
Stons;  SOOlbs.fer.. 
Stons;  SOOlbs.fer.. 

5  tons 

8  tons 

10  to  18  tons 


300  to  600  lbs.  f  er.  .; 
ib  to  20  "tons.".'! .' .' .' .' .' 
Commercial  fer 


6to8qts 

2busli 

2to2;^bu,sh.. 
2  to2>§bush.. 

13^bush 

>6tol>^bush. 

I>^bush 

8  to  15  bush..., 
10  to  12  bush. 

4.to8oz 

2to51bs 

10  to  15  bush. 
20qts 


CENTRAL  AND  WESTERN  STATES. 


OtoSqts. 
6ats 


16-: 

41- 

16-3' 

13-:' 

40- 

8-J, 
13-].' 
14-'. 
10- ji 

8  1 
10-}' 
16- J 

8-1 
15-V 


Corn 

Wheat 

Oats 

Barley 

Kye 

Buckwheat 

White  beans... 

Potatoes 

Turnips 

Mangels 

Flax 

Tobacco 

Hay 


Apr.lto.Tunel... 

Fall  or  Spr'ng 

Apr.l  to  Mayl. .. 
Fall  or  Spring  (1). 

Sept.  1  to  30 

June 

MaylOto  JunelO. 
Blar.  15  to  June  1  . 
Julyl5toAug.30. 
Apr.l  to  Way  15.. 
Mar.  15  to  May  15. 

Seed  bed.  Mar 

Apr,  to  May 


Black  or  sandy  loam. 

Strong  loam 

Clay  loam 

Clay  loam 

Light  loam 

Clay  loam 

Clay  loam , 

.Sandy  loam 

Loam  or  muclc 

Sandy  loam 

Loam 

Sandy  loam 

Clay  loam 


5  to  10  tons 

Stons 

Stons 

Stons 

Stons 

Stons 

Stons 

5  to  10  tons 

8  to  10  tons.... 
8  to  12  tons.... 
10  to  15  tons.. 
8  to  10  tons..... 
lOtons 


Oqts 

2  bush 

2 to  3  bush.... 

2  bush .   

1  to  2  bush . . . . 

1  to  2  bush 

l^bnsh 

5  to  10  bu  h.., 

lto61b.s 

6to81bs 

2  to 3  pecks..., 
Oz.  to  6  sq.  rd. 
8  to  15  lbs 


16- 

40-4 
12-1 
11  11 
35-4 
10-1 
1 
10-2; 
10-1 
22- S 
15-'3 
15-1 


r 


Cotton 

Corn 

Wheat 

Oats.. 

Barley 

E.ve 

White  beans ... 

Cabbage 

Watermelons... 

Onions 

Potatoes 

Sweet  potatoes. 

Pumpkins 

Tomatoes 

Turnips 

Tobacco 

Cow  peas 


Feb.  to  May  15.... 

Feb. to  June 

Sept.  to  Nov 

Feb.,  May,  Sept... 

Apr.  to  May 

Sept.  to  Oct 

Mar.  to  May 

Oct.,  Mar.  to  May. 
Mar.  1  to  May  10. . 
Feb.  1  to  Apr.  10.. 
Jan. ,  Feb.  to  Apr. 

May  to  June 

Apr.  1  to  Mayl. .. 
Jan.l  to  Feb.  19... 
Feb.,  Aug.,  Apr.. 
Seed  bed.  Mar . .  ■. . 
Mayl  to  July  15. . 


SOUTHEKN  feT.ATES. 


Sandy]oam(2) 

Rich  loam 

Clay  loam  (2) 

CIa.vloani  (2) , 

Clay  loam  (2) 

Clay  loam  (2) 

Light  loam 

Light  loam 

Rich,  light  loam... 

Loam  or  muck 

Light  loose  loam . . . 

Sandy  loam 

Rich,  light  loam... 
Rich,  sandy  loam... 
Rich,  light  loam... 

Sandy  loam 

Sandv  loam 


10  bush. cot. seed,. 

8  tons 

StolOtons 

StolOtous 

lOtons.. ..-..,. 

8  tons 

6to  lOtons.... 

Stons;  aOOlbs.  ler.. 


1  to  3  bush.. 
8qts 

2  bush 

2%  bush 

2)^bush 

l>^bn,sh 

1  10  2  bush.. 
,^to><ilbs... 

2  to  7  lbs.... 


8  to  12  tons.. 


8  to  15  t  

200  toSOOlb.s.  pho.s. 


a  to  10  bush.. 
10  to  12  bush. 

4to71bs 

4  to9oz 

2to6]bs 

oz.  to  6  ^q.  rd. 
2  to  Specks... 


20-3> 

18-3 
4 
1 

1 
4 

1 
16- 

16-2 
11-1 
12-1 

17-2 

14-2 

8-1 

18-2' 

6  . 


(1)  Thestaudard  varieties  of  seed  planted  in  tlie  several  sections  of  the  United  States  are  as  lol 
lows:  Corn— New  England,  learning,  sanford,  flint;  Middle  States, leaming,  white  dent, yellow  denti 
Central  and  Western  .Stctes,  leaming,  sanford,  flint,  white  dent;  Southern  States,  hickory  king,  goard 
seed.  Cox  prolific.  Wheat— Middle  States,  ftiltz;  Central  and  Western  States,  fultz,  pooIe,  fife 
Southern  States,  fulcaster.  Oats— New  England,  white;  Middle  States,  white,  liliick ;  Central  an< 
Western  States,  gray  Norway,  silver  mine,  Russian;  Southern  States,  Texas  riisl|ii-(iof.  Barley- 
Middle  States,  mansbury;  Soutliern  States,  Tennessee  Winter.  Kye— New  England,  white;  JNtiddl, 
States,  white.  Winter:  Central  and  Western  States,  Winter;  Southern  States,  excelsior  Winter.  Buck 
Wheat— Middle  States,  .silver  hull;  Central  and  Western  States,  silvorhuU.  Potatoes— New  England 
green  mountain,  carmen  3,  rose;  Middle  States,  rose,  carmen  3,  rural  2;  Central  and  Wester) 
States,  hebron,  rural,  early  rose,  early  Ohio.  Tobacco— Central  and  Western  States,  yellow  prior 
Spanish,  white  burley.  Hay,  clover— Middle  States,  medium  red.  Sweet  Potatoes— Middle  States 
yellow  Jersey ;  Southern  States,  yellow  Jersey.  Cotton— Southern  States,  Texasstormproof.  Sprin^ 
wheat  is  to  some  e.xtent  grown  iu  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  many  other  States.  It  matures  ii 
eighteen  to  twentv  weeks. 

(2)  la  Texas  the  hlai'k  loam  is  a  good  soil  for  cotton,  corn, wheat  and  niost  other  field  crops. 


Hiiictpal  WiltmmtB  of  tlje  <Solai*  cSi>stcm. 


Sun 

Moi-cury.. 

Venus 

Eanh  

iStars 

Jupiter..,. 
Saiuni 

ISfei)luu 


as  .... 


Menu  ' 
Bisuiuce 
froinSun, 
Millions  of 

Miles. 


36.0 

Gl.'J. 

92.8 

141.5 

483.3 

886.0 

1781. 9 

2791. 6 


Sidereal 
Period, 
Days. 


87.969 

224.  701 

365. 25() 

686.  95 

4332.  .58 

10759.  22 

30686.  82 

60181. 11 


Orbit 
Velocity, 
Miles  per 
aecoud. 


23  to  35 

21. 9 

18.5 

15.0 

8.1 

6.0 

4.2 

3.4 


Mean 

Diameter, 

Miles. 


866,400 

3.030 

7,700 

7,918 

4,230 

80.500 

71.000 

31.900 

34,800 


Mass, 
Earth  =1. 


331100 
0.125 
0.78 

1.00 
0.107 
316.  0 

94.9 

14.7 

17.1 


Volume, 
Eart:!i  =1. 


1310000 
0.056 
0.92 
1.00 
0.152 
1309 
721 
65 
85 


Density, 
Earth  =1. 


0.25 
2.23 
0.86 
1.00 
0.72 
0.24 
0.13 
0.22 
0.20 


Gravity 
at  .Sur- 
face, 
Earth  =1. 


27.65 
0.85 
0.83 
1.00 
0.38 
2.65 
1.18 
0.91 
0.88 


The  uumberof  asteroids  discovered  up  to  present  date  is  about  465.     A  number  of  these  small 
planets  have  not  been  observed  since  their  discovery,  and  are  practically  lost.     Consequently  it 
'  '""V  sometimes  a  matter  of  doubt,  until  the  elements  have  been  computed,  Avhether  the  .supposed 
's  really  new,  or  only  au  old  one  rediscovered.